Relaying data transmitted as encoded data slices

ABSTRACT

A method begins by a first device determining an error coding distributed routing protocol and transmitting a set of encoded data slices, identity of a second device, and the error coding distributed routing protocol to a network, wherein the set of encoded data slices represents data that has been dispersed storage error encoded. The method continues with the network routing a plurality of sub-sets of the set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality of routing paths towards the second, comparing anticipated routing performance with a desired routing performance, and altering the routing path to obtain a favorable comparison. The method continues with the second device receiving at least some of the set of encoded data slices from the network and decoding at least a threshold number of encoded data slices to reproduce the data when at least the threshold number of encoded data slices have been received.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS

The present U.S. Utility patent application claims priority pursuant to35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/390,472,entitled “COMMUNICATIONS UTILIZING INFORMATION DISPERSAL,” filed Oct. 6,2010, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entiretyand made part of the present U.S. Utility patent application for allpurposes.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to computing systems and moreparticularly to data storage solutions within such computing systems.

2. Description of Related Art

Computers are known to communicate, process, and store data. Suchcomputers range from wireless smart phones to data centers that supportmillions of web searches, stock trades, or on-line purchases every day.In general, a computing system generates data and/or manipulates datafrom one form into another. For instance, an image sensor of thecomputing system generates raw picture data and, using an imagecompression program (e.g., JPEG, MPEG, etc.), the computing systemmanipulates the raw picture data into a standardized compressed image.

With continued advances in processing speed and communication speed,computers are capable of processing real time multimedia data forapplications ranging from simple voice communications to streaming highdefinition video. As such, general-purpose information appliances arereplacing purpose-built communications devices (e.g., a telephone). Forexample, smart phones can support telephony communications but they arealso capable of text messaging and accessing the internet to performfunctions including email, web browsing, remote applications access, andmedia communications (e.g., telephony voice, image transfer, musicfiles, video files, real time video streaming. etc.).

Each type of computer is constructed and operates in accordance with oneor more communication, processing, and storage standards. As a result ofstandardization and with advances in technology, more and moreinformation content is being converted into digital formats. Forexample, more digital cameras are now being sold than film cameras, thusproducing more digital pictures. As another example, web-basedprogramming is becoming an alternative to over the air televisionbroadcasts and/or cable broadcasts. As further examples, papers, books,video entertainment, home video, etc. are now being stored digitally,which increases the demand on the storage function of computers.

A typical computer storage system includes one or more memory devicesaligned with the needs of the various operational aspects of thecomputer's processing and communication functions. Generally, theimmediacy of access dictates what type of memory device is used. Forexample, random access memory (RAM) memory can be accessed in any randomorder with a constant response time, thus it is typically used for cachememory and main memory. By contrast, memory device technologies thatrequire physical movement such as magnetic disks, tapes, and opticaldiscs, have a variable response time as the physical movement can takelonger than the data transfer, thus they are typically used forsecondary memory (e.g., hard drive, backup memory, etc.).

A computer's storage system will be compliant with one or more computerstorage standards that include, but are not limited to, network filesystem (NFS), flash file system (FFS), disk file system (DFS), smallcomputer system interface (SCSI), internet small computer systeminterface (iSCSI), file transfer protocol (FTP), and web-baseddistributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV). These standards specifythe data storage format (e.g., files, data objects, data blocks,directories, etc.) and interfacing between the computer's processingfunction and its storage system, which is a primary function of thecomputer's memory controller.

Despite the standardization of the computer and its storage system,memory devices fail; especially commercial grade memory devices thatutilize technologies incorporating physical movement (e.g., a discdrive). For example, it is fairly common for a disc drive to routinelysuffer from bit level corruption and to completely fail after threeyears of use. One solution is to utilize a higher-grade disc drive,which adds significant cost to a computer.

Another solution is to utilize multiple levels of redundant disc drivesto replicate the data into two or more copies. One such redundant driveapproach is called redundant array of independent discs (RAID). In aRAID device, a RAID controller adds parity data to the original databefore storing it across the array. The parity data is calculated fromthe original data such that the failure of a disc will not result in theloss of the original data. For example, RAID 5 uses three discs toprotect data from the failure of a single disc. The parity data, andassociated redundancy overhead data, reduces the storage capacity ofthree independent discs by one third (e.g., n−1=capacity). RAID 6 canrecover from a loss of two discs and requires a minimum of four discswith a storage capacity of n−2.

While RAID addresses the memory device failure issue, it is not withoutits own failure issues that affect its effectiveness, efficiency andsecurity. For instance, as more discs are added to the array, theprobability of a disc failure increases, which increases the demand formaintenance. For example, when a disc fails, it needs to be manuallyreplaced before another disc fails and the data stored in the RAIDdevice is lost. To reduce the risk of data loss, data on a RAID deviceis typically copied on to one or more other RAID devices. While thisaddresses the loss of data issue, it raises a security issue sincemultiple copies of data are available, which increases the chances ofunauthorized access. Further, as the amount of data being stored grows,the overhead of RAID devices becomes a non-trivial efficiency issue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computingsystem in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing corein accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a distributedstorage processing unit in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a grid module inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example embodiment of error coded data slicecreation in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6A is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 6B is a table illustrating an example of a data partition inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating an example of sending data inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 7B is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 8A is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 8B is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication system in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 11B is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of determining acommunications configuration in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 16A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 16B is a flowchart illustrating an example of re-routing data inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 20A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 20B is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing datain accordance with the invention;

FIG. 21A is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing datain accordance with the invention;

FIG. 21B is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing datain accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing datain accordance with the invention;

FIG. 23A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 23B is a flowchart illustrating another example of receiving datain accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computing system 10 thatincludes one or more of a first type of user devices 12, one or more ofa second type of user devices 14, at least one distributed storage (DS)processing unit 16, at least one DS managing unit 18, at least onestorage integrity processing unit 20, and a distributed storage network(DSN) memory 22 coupled via a network 24. The network 24 may include oneor more wireless and/or wire lined communication systems; one or moreprivate intranet systems and/or public internet systems; and/or one ormore local area networks (LAN) and/or wide area networks (WAN).

The DSN memory 22 includes a plurality of distributed storage (DS) units36 for storing data of the system. Each of the DS units 36 includes aprocessing module and memory and may be located at a geographicallydifferent site than the other DS units (e.g., one in Chicago, one inMilwaukee, etc.). The processing module may be a single processingdevice or a plurality of processing devices. Such a processing devicemay be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/oroperational instructions. The processing module may have an associatedmemory and/or memory element, which may be a single memory device, aplurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of the processingmodule. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random accessmemory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory, dynamicmemory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device that storesdigital information. Note that if the processing module includes morethan one processing device, the processing devices may be centrallylocated (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that when the processing module implements one or more ofits functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry,and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing thecorresponding operational instructions may be embedded within, orexternal to, the circuitry comprising the state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further notethat, the memory element stores, and the processing module executes,hard coded and/or operational instructions corresponding to at leastsome of the steps and/or functions illustrated in FIGS. 1-24.

Each of the user devices 12-14, the DS processing unit 16, the DSmanaging unit 18, and the storage integrity processing unit 20 may be aportable computing device (e.g., a social networking device, a gamingdevice, a cell phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, adigital music player, a digital video player, a laptop computer, ahandheld computer, a video game controller, and/or any other portabledevice that includes a computing core) and/or a fixed computing device(e.g., a personal computer, a computer server, a cable set-top box, asatellite receiver, a television set, a printer, a fax machine, homeentertainment equipment, a video game console, and/or any type of homeor office computing equipment). Such a portable or fixed computingdevice includes a computing core 26 and one or more interfaces 30, 32,and/or 33. An embodiment of the computing core 26 will be described withreference to FIG. 2.

With respect to the interfaces, each of the interfaces 30, 32, and 33includes software and/or hardware to support one or more communicationlinks via the network 24 and/or directly. For example, interfaces 30support a communication link (wired, wireless, direct, via a LAN, viathe network 24, etc.) between the first type of user device 14 and theDS processing unit 16. As another example, DSN interface 32 supports aplurality of communication links via the network 24 between the DSNmemory 22 and the DS processing unit 16, the first type of user device12, and/or the storage integrity processing unit 20. As yet anotherexample, interface 33 supports a communication link between the DSmanaging unit 18 and any one of the other devices and/or units 12, 14,16, 20, and/or 22 via the network 24.

In general and with respect to data storage, the system 10 supportsthree primary functions: distributed network data storage management,distributed data storage and retrieval, and data storage integrityverification. In accordance with these three primary functions, data canbe distributedly stored in a plurality of physically different locationsand subsequently retrieved in a reliable and secure manner regardless offailures of individual storage devices, failures of network equipment,the duration of storage, the amount of data being stored, attempts athacking the data, etc.

The DS managing unit 18 performs distributed network data storagemanagement functions, which include establishing distributed datastorage parameters, performing network operations, performing networkadministration, and/or performing network maintenance. The DS managingunit 18 establishes the distributed data storage parameters (e.g.,allocation of virtual DSN memory space, distributed storage parameters,security parameters, billing information, user profile information,etc.) for one or more of the user devices 12-14 (e.g., established forindividual devices, established for a user group of devices, establishedfor public access by the user devices, etc.). For example, the DSmanaging unit 18 coordinates the creation of a vault (e.g., a virtualmemory block) within the DSN memory 22 for a user device (for a group ofdevices, or for public access). The DS managing unit 18 also determinesthe distributed data storage parameters for the vault. In particular,the DS managing unit 18 determines a number of slices (e.g., the numberthat a data segment of a data file and/or data block is partitioned intofor distributed storage) and a read threshold value (e.g., the minimumnumber of slices required to reconstruct the data segment).

As another example, the DS managing module 18 creates and stores,locally or within the DSN memory 22, user profile information. The userprofile information includes one or more of authentication information,permissions, and/or the security parameters. The security parameters mayinclude one or more of encryption/decryption scheme, one or moreencryption keys, key generation scheme, and data encoding/decodingscheme.

As yet another example, the DS managing unit 18 creates billinginformation for a particular user, user group, vault access, publicvault access, etc. For instance, the DS managing unit 18 tracks thenumber of times user accesses a private vault and/or public vaults,which can be used to generate a per-access bill. In another instance,the DS managing unit 18 tracks the amount of data stored and/orretrieved by a user device and/or a user group, which can be used togenerate a per-data-amount bill.

The DS managing unit 18 also performs network operations, networkadministration, and/or network maintenance. As at least part ofperforming the network operations and/or administration, the DS managingunit 18 monitors performance of the devices and/or units of the system10 for potential failures, determines the devices' and/or units'activation status, determines the devices' and/or units' loading, andany other system level operation that affects the performance level ofthe system 10. For example, the DS managing unit 18 receives andaggregates network management alarms, alerts, errors, statusinformation, performance information, and messages from the devices12-14 and/or the units 16, 20, 22. For example, the DS managing unit 18receives a simple network management protocol (SNMP) message regardingthe status of the DS processing unit 16.

The DS managing unit 18 performs the network maintenance by identifyingequipment within the system 10 that needs replacing, upgrading,repairing, and/or expanding. For example, the DS managing unit 18determines that the DSN memory 22 needs more DS units 36 or that one ormore of the DS units 36 needs updating.

The second primary function (i.e., distributed data storage andretrieval) begins and ends with a user device 12-14. For instance, if asecond type of user device 14 has a data file 38 and/or data block 40 tostore in the DSN memory 22, it sends the data file 38 and/or data block40 to the DS processing unit 16 via its interface 30. As will bedescribed in greater detail with reference to FIG. 2, the interface 30functions to mimic a conventional operating system (OS) file systeminterface (e.g., network file system (NFS), flash file system (FFS),disk file system (DFS), file transfer protocol (FTP), web-baseddistributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV), etc.) and/or a blockmemory interface (e.g., small computer system interface (SCSI), internetsmall computer system interface (iSCSI), etc.). In addition, theinterface 30 may attach a user identification code (ID) to the data file38 and/or data block 40.

The DS processing unit 16 receives the data file 38 and/or data block 40via its interface 30 and performs a distributed storage (DS) process 34thereon (e.g., an error coding dispersal storage function). The DSprocessing 34 begins by partitioning the data file 38 and/or data block40 into one or more data segments, which is represented as Y datasegments. For example, the DS processing 34 may partition the data file38 and/or data block 40 into a fixed byte size segment (e.g., 2¹ to2^(n) bytes, where n=>2) or a variable byte size (e.g., change byte sizefrom segment to segment, or from groups of segments to groups ofsegments, etc.).

For each of the Y data segments, the DS processing 34 error encodes(e.g., forward error correction (FEC), information dispersal algorithm,or error correction coding) and slices (or slices then error encodes)the data segment into a plurality of error coded (EC) data slices 42-48,which is represented as X slices per data segment. The number of slices(X) per segment, which corresponds to a number of pillars n, is set inaccordance with the distributed data storage parameters and the errorcoding scheme. For example, if a Reed-Solomon (or other FEC scheme) isused in an n/k system, then a data segment is divided into n slices,where k number of slices is needed to reconstruct the original data(i.e., k is the threshold). As a few specific examples, the n/k factormay be 5/3; 6/4; 8/6; 8/5; 16/10.

For each EC slice 42-48, the DS processing unit 16 creates a uniqueslice name and appends it to the corresponding EC slice 42-48. The slicename includes universal DSN memory addressing routing information (e.g.,virtual memory addresses in the DSN memory 22) and user-specificinformation (e.g., user ID, file name, data block identifier, etc.).

The DS processing unit 16 transmits the plurality of EC slices 42-48 toa plurality of DS units 36 of the DSN memory 22 via the DSN interface 32and the network 24. The DSN interface 32 formats each of the slices fortransmission via the network 24. For example, the DSN interface 32 mayutilize an internet protocol (e.g., TCP/IP, etc.) to packetize the ECslices 42-48 for transmission via the network 24.

The number of DS units 36 receiving the EC slices 42-48 is dependent onthe distributed data storage parameters established by the DS managingunit 18. For example, the DS managing unit 18 may indicate that eachslice is to be stored in a different DS unit 36. As another example, theDS managing unit 18 may indicate that like slice numbers of differentdata segments are to be stored in the same DS unit 36. For example, thefirst slice of each of the data segments is to be stored in a first DSunit 36, the second slice of each of the data segments is to be storedin a second DS unit 36, etc. In this manner, the data is encoded anddistributedly stored at physically diverse locations to improve datastorage integrity and security. Further examples of encoding the datasegments will be provided with reference to one or more of FIGS. 2-24.

Each DS unit 36 that receives an EC slice 42-48 for storage translatesthe virtual DSN memory address of the slice into a local physicaladdress for storage. Accordingly, each DS unit 36 maintains a virtual tophysical memory mapping to assist in the storage and retrieval of data.

The first type of user device 12 performs a similar function to storedata in the DSN memory 22 with the exception that it includes the DSprocessing. As such, the device 12 encodes and slices the data fileand/or data block it has to store. The device then transmits the slices11 to the DSN memory via its DSN interface 32 and the network 24.

For a second type of user device 14 to retrieve a data file or datablock from memory, it issues a read command via its interface 30 to theDS processing unit 16. The DS processing unit 16 performs the DSprocessing 34 to identify the DS units 36 storing the slices of the datafile and/or data block based on the read command. The DS processing unit16 may also communicate with the DS managing unit 18 to verify that theuser device 14 is authorized to access the requested data.

Assuming that the user device is authorized to access the requesteddata, the DS processing unit 16 issues slice read commands to at least athreshold number of the DS units 36 storing the requested data (e.g., toat least 10 DS units for a 16/10 error coding scheme). Each of the DSunits 36 receiving the slice read command, verifies the command,accesses its virtual to physical memory mapping, retrieves the requestedslice, or slices, and transmits it to the DS processing unit 16.

Once the DS processing unit 16 has received a read threshold number ofslices for a data segment, it performs an error decoding function andde-slicing to reconstruct the data segment. When Y number of datasegments has been reconstructed, the DS processing unit 16 provides thedata file 38 and/or data block 40 to the user device 14. Note that thefirst type of user device 12 performs a similar process to retrieve adata file and/or data block.

The storage integrity processing unit 20 performs the third primaryfunction of data storage integrity verification. In general, the storageintegrity processing unit 20 periodically retrieves slices 45, and/orslice names, of a data file or data block of a user device to verifythat one or more slices have not been corrupted or lost (e.g., the DSunit failed). The retrieval process mimics the read process previouslydescribed.

If the storage integrity processing unit 20 determines that one or moreslices is corrupted or lost, it rebuilds the corrupted or lost slice(s)in accordance with the error coding scheme. The storage integrityprocessing unit 20 stores the rebuild slice, or slices, in theappropriate DS unit(s) 36 in a manner that mimics the write processpreviously described.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a computing core26 that includes a processing module 50, a memory controller 52, mainmemory 54, a video graphics processing unit 55, an input/output (TO)controller 56, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) interface 58,an IO interface 60, at least one IO device interface module 62, a readonly memory (ROM) basic input output system (BIOS) 64, and one or morememory interface modules. The memory interface module(s) includes one ormore of a universal serial bus (USB) interface module 66, a host busadapter (HBA) interface module 68, a network interface module 70, aflash interface module 72, a hard drive interface module 74, and a DSNinterface module 76. Note the DSN interface module 76 and/or the networkinterface module 70 may function as the interface 30 of the user device14 of FIG. 1. Further note that the IO device interface module 62 and/orthe memory interface modules may be collectively or individuallyreferred to as IO ports.

The processing module 50 may be a single processing device or aplurality of processing devices. Such a processing device may be amicroprocessor, micro-controller, digital signal processor,microcomputer, central processing unit, field programmable gate array,programmable logic device, state machine, logic circuitry, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device that manipulates signals(analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of the circuitry and/oroperational instructions. The processing module 50 may have anassociated memory and/or memory element, which may be a single memorydevice, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embedded circuitry of theprocessing module 50. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory,random access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, staticmemory, dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any devicethat stores digital information. Note that if the processing module 50includes more than one processing device, the processing devices may becentrally located (e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/orwireless bus structure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloudcomputing via indirect coupling via a local area network and/or a widearea network). Further note that when the processing module 50implements one or more of its functions via a state machine, analogcircuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry, the memory and/ormemory element storing the corresponding operational instructions may beembedded within, or external to, the circuitry comprising the statemachine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logic circuitry.Still further note that, the memory element stores, and the processingmodule 50 executes, hard coded and/or operational instructionscorresponding to at least some of the steps and/or functions illustratedin FIGS. 1-24.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a dispersedstorage (DS) processing module 34 of user device 12 and/or of the DSprocessing unit 16. The DS processing module 34 includes a gatewaymodule 78, an access module 80, a grid module 82, and a storage module84. The DS processing module 34 may also include an interface 30 and theDSnet interface 32 or the interfaces 68 and/or 70 may be part of userdevice 12 or of the DS processing unit 16. The DS processing module 34may further include a bypass/feedback path between the storage module 84to the gateway module 78. Note that the modules 78-84 of the DSprocessing module 34 may be in a single unit or distributed acrossmultiple units.

In an example of storing data, the gateway module 78 receives anincoming data object that includes a user ID field 86, an object namefield 88, and the data object field 40 and may also receivecorresponding information that includes a process identifier (e.g., aninternal process/application ID), metadata, a file system directory, ablock number, a transaction message, a user device identity (ID), a dataobject identifier, a source name, and/or user information. The gatewaymodule 78 authenticates the user associated with the data object byverifying the user ID 86 with the managing unit 18 and/or anotherauthenticating unit.

When the user is authenticated, the gateway module 78 obtains userinformation from the management unit 18, the user device, and/or theother authenticating unit. The user information includes a vaultidentifier, operational parameters, and user attributes (e.g., userdata, billing information, etc.). A vault identifier identifies a vault,which is a virtual memory space that maps to a set of DS storage units36. For example, vault 1 (i.e., user 1's DSN memory space) includeseight DS storage units (X=8 wide) and vault 2 (i.e., user 2's DSN memoryspace) includes sixteen DS storage units (X=16 wide). The operationalparameters may include an error coding algorithm, the width n (number ofpillars X or slices per segment for this vault), a read threshold T, awrite threshold, an encryption algorithm, a slicing parameter, acompression algorithm, an integrity check method, caching settings,parallelism settings, and/or other parameters that may be used to accessthe DSN memory layer.

The gateway module 78 uses the user information to assign a source name35 to the data. For instance, the gateway module 78 determines thesource name 35 of the data object 40 based on the vault identifier andthe data object. For example, the source name may contain a fileidentifier (ID), a vault generation number, a reserved field, and avault identifier (ID). As another example, the gateway module 78 maygenerate the file ID based on a hash function of the data object 40.Note that the gateway module 78 may also perform message conversion,protocol conversion, electrical conversion, optical conversion, accesscontrol, user identification, user information retrieval, trafficmonitoring, statistics generation, configuration, management, and/orsource name determination.

The access module 80 receives the data object 40 and creates a series ofdata segments 1 through Y 90-92 in accordance with a data storageprotocol (e.g., file storage system, a block storage system, and/or anaggregated block storage system). The number of segments Y may be chosenor randomly assigned based on a selected segment size and the size ofthe data object. For example, if the number of segments is chosen to bea fixed number, then the size of the segments varies as a function ofthe size of the data object. For instance, if the data object is animage file of 4,194,304 eight bit bytes (e.g., 33,554,432 bits) and thenumber of segments Y=131,072, then each segment is 256 bits or 32 bytes.As another example, if segment sized is fixed, then the number ofsegments Y varies based on the size of data object. For instance, if thedata object is an image file of 4,194,304 bytes and the fixed size ofeach segment is 4,096 bytes, then the number of segments Y=1,024. Notethat each segment is associated with the same source name.

The grid module 82 receives the data segments and may manipulate (e.g.,compression, encryption, cyclic redundancy check (CRC), etc.) each ofthe data segments before performing an error coding function of theerror coding dispersal storage function to produce a pre-manipulateddata segment. After manipulating a data segment, if applicable, the gridmodule 82 error encodes (e.g., Reed-Solomon, Convolution encoding,Trellis encoding, etc.) the data segment or manipulated data segmentinto X error coded data slices 42-44.

The value X, or the number of pillars (e.g., X=16), is chosen as aparameter of the error coding dispersal storage function. Otherparameters of the error coding dispersal function include a readthreshold T, a write threshold W, etc. The read threshold (e.g., T=10,when X=16) corresponds to the minimum number of error-free error codeddata slices required to reconstruct the data segment. In other words,the DS processing module 34 can compensate for X-T (e.g., 16−10=6)missing error coded data slices per data segment. The write threshold Wcorresponds to a minimum number of DS storage units that acknowledgeproper storage of their respective data slices before the DS processingmodule indicates proper storage of the encoded data segment. Note thatthe write threshold is greater than or equal to the read threshold for agiven number of pillars (X).

For each data slice of a data segment, the grid module 82 generates aunique slice name 37 and attaches it thereto. The slice name 37 includesa universal routing information field and a vault specific field and maybe 48 bytes (e.g., 24 bytes for each of the universal routinginformation field and the vault specific field). As illustrated, theuniversal routing information field includes a slice index, a vault ID,a vault generation, and a reserved field. The slice index is based onthe pillar number and the vault ID and, as such, is unique for eachpillar (e.g., slices of the same pillar for the same vault for anysegment will share the same slice index). The vault specific fieldincludes a data name, which includes a file ID and a segment number(e.g., a sequential numbering of data segments 1-Y of a simple dataobject or a data block number).

Prior to outputting the error coded data slices of a data segment, thegrid module may perform post-slice manipulation on the slices. Ifenabled, the manipulation includes slice level compression, encryption,CRC, addressing, tagging, and/or other manipulation to improve theeffectiveness of the computing system.

When the error coded data slices of a data segment are ready to beoutputted, the grid module 82 determines which of the DS storage units36 will store the EC data slices based on a dispersed storage memorymapping associated with the user's vault and/or DS storage unitattributes. The DS storage unit attributes may include availability,self-selection, performance history, link speed, link latency,ownership, available DSN memory, domain, cost, a prioritization scheme,a centralized selection message from another source, a lookup table,data ownership, and/or any other factor to optimize the operation of thecomputing system. Note that the number of DS storage units 36 is equalto or greater than the number of pillars (e.g., X) so that no more thanone error coded data slice of the same data segment is stored on thesame DS storage unit 36. Further note that EC data slices of the samepillar number but of different segments (e.g., EC data slice 1 of datasegment 1 and EC data slice 1 of data segment 2) may be stored on thesame or different DS storage units 36.

The storage module 84 performs an integrity check on the outboundencoded data slices and, when successful, identifies a plurality of DSstorage units based on information provided by the grid module 82. Thestorage module 84 then outputs the encoded data slices 1 through X ofeach segment 1 through Y to the DS storage units 36. Each of the DSstorage units 36 stores its EC data slice(s) and maintains a localvirtual DSN address to physical location table to convert the virtualDSN address of the EC data slice(s) into physical storage addresses.

In an example of a read operation, the user device 12 and/or 14 sends aread request to the DS processing unit 16, which authenticates therequest. When the request is authentic, the DS processing unit 16 sendsa read message to each of the DS storage units 36 storing slices of thedata object being read. The slices are received via the DSnet interface32 and processed by the storage module 84, which performs a parity checkand provides the slices to the grid module 82 when the parity check wassuccessful. The grid module 82 decodes the slices in accordance with theerror coding dispersal storage function to reconstruct the data segment.The access module 80 reconstructs the data object from the data segmentsand the gateway module 78 formats the data object for transmission tothe user device.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a grid module 82that includes a control unit 73, a pre-slice manipulator 75, an encoder77, a slicer 79, a post-slice manipulator 81, a pre-slice de-manipulator83, a decoder 85, a de-slicer 87, and/or a post-slice de-manipulator 89.Note that the control unit 73 may be partially or completely external tothe grid module 82. For example, the control unit 73 may be part of thecomputing core at a remote location, part of a user device, part of theDS managing unit 18, or distributed amongst one or more DS storageunits.

In an example of write operation, the pre-slice manipulator 75 receivesa data segment 90-92 and a write instruction from an authorized userdevice. The pre-slice manipulator 75 determines if pre-manipulation ofthe data segment 90-92 is required and, if so, what type. The pre-slicemanipulator 75 may make the determination independently or based oninstructions from the control unit 73, where the determination is basedon a computing system-wide predetermination, a table lookup, vaultparameters associated with the user identification, the type of data,security requirements, available DSN memory, performance requirements,and/or other metadata.

Once a positive determination is made, the pre-slice manipulator 75manipulates the data segment 90-92 in accordance with the type ofmanipulation. For example, the type of manipulation may be compression(e.g., Lempel-Ziv-Welch, Huffman, Golomb, fractal, wavelet, etc.),signatures (e.g., Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), Elliptic Curve DSA,Secure Hash Algorithm, etc.), watermarking, tagging, encryption (e.g.,Data Encryption Standard, Advanced Encryption Standard, etc.), addingmetadata (e.g., time/date stamping, user information, file type, etc.),cyclic redundancy check (e.g., CRC32), and/or other data manipulationsto produce the pre-manipulated data segment.

The encoder 77 encodes the pre-manipulated data segment 92 using aforward error correction (FEC) encoder (and/or other type of erasurecoding and/or error coding) to produce an encoded data segment 94. Theencoder 77 determines which forward error correction algorithm to usebased on a predetermination associated with the user's vault, a timebased algorithm, user direction, DS managing unit direction, controlunit direction, as a function of the data type, as a function of thedata segment 92 metadata, and/or any other factor to determine algorithmtype. The forward error correction algorithm may be Golay,Multidimensional parity, Reed-Solomon, Hamming, Bose Ray ChauduriHocquenghem (BCH), Cauchy-Reed-Solomon, or any other FEC encoder. Notethat the encoder 77 may use a different encoding algorithm for each datasegment 92, the same encoding algorithm for the data segments 92 of adata object, or a combination thereof.

The encoded data segment 94 is of greater size than the data segment 92by the overhead rate of the encoding algorithm by a factor of X/T, whereX is the width or number of slices, and T is the read threshold. In thisregard, the corresponding decoding process can accommodate at most X-Tmissing EC data slices and still recreate the data segment 92. Forexample, if X=16 and T=10, then the data segment 92 will be recoverableas long as 10 or more EC data slices per segment are not corrupted.

The slicer 79 transforms the encoded data segment 94 into EC data slicesin accordance with the slicing parameter from the vault for this userand/or data segment 92. For example, if the slicing parameter is X=16,then the slicer 79 slices each encoded data segment 94 into 16 encodedslices.

The post-slice manipulator 81 performs, if enabled, post-manipulation onthe encoded slices to produce the EC data slices. If enabled, thepost-slice manipulator 81 determines the type of post-manipulation,which may be based on a computing system-wide predetermination,parameters in the vault for this user, a table lookup, the useridentification, the type of data, security requirements, available DSNmemory, performance requirements, control unit directed, and/or othermetadata. Note that the type of post-slice manipulation may includeslice level compression, signatures, encryption, CRC, addressing,watermarking, tagging, adding metadata, and/or other manipulation toimprove the effectiveness of the computing system.

In an example of a read operation, the post-slice de-manipulator 89receives at least a read threshold number of EC data slices and performsthe inverse function of the post-slice manipulator 81 to produce aplurality of encoded slices. The de-slicer 87 de-slices the encodedslices to produce an encoded data segment 94. The decoder 85 performsthe inverse function of the encoder 77 to recapture the data segment90-92. The pre-slice de-manipulator 83 performs the inverse function ofthe pre-slice manipulator 75 to recapture the data segment 90-92.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example of slicing an encoded data segment 94by the slicer 79. In this example, the encoded data segment 94 includesthirty-two bits, but may include more or less bits. The slicer 79disperses the bits of the encoded data segment 94 across the EC dataslices in a pattern as shown. As such, each EC data slice does notinclude consecutive bits of the data segment 94 reducing the impact ofconsecutive bit failures on data recovery. For example, if EC data slice2 (which includes bits 1, 5, 9, 13, 17, 25, and 29) is unavailable(e.g., lost, inaccessible, or corrupted), the data segment can bereconstructed from the other EC data slices (e.g., 1, 3 and 4 for a readthreshold of 3 and a width of 4).

FIG. 6A is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a communicationsystem. The system includes a sending dispersed storage (DS) processingunit 102, a network 24, and a receiving DS processing unit 104. In animplementation example, the sending DS processing unit 102 and thereceiving DS processing unit 104 include a DS processing module 34. Thesending DS processing unit 102 and the receiving DS processing unit 104operate to communicate data 106. In an example of operation, the sendingDS processing unit 102 obtains data 106 for transmission to thereceiving DS processing unit 104. The data may include a plurality ofdata portions a-c. Next, sending DS processing unit 102 generates aplurality of sets of error coding dispersal storage function parametersto utilize in the generation of a plurality of sets of encoded dataslices which achieves communications goals for each of the correspondingdata portions a-c. For instance, a reliability goal for data portion amay be greater than a reliability goal for data portion b when receivingdata portion a by the receiving DS processing unit 104 is a higherpriority than receiving data portion b. Next, the sending DS processingunit 102 dispersed storage error encodes each data portion of theplurality of data portions a-c in accordance with a corresponding set oferror coding dispersal storage function parameters of the plurality ofsets of error coding dispersal storage function parameters to produce aplurality of sets of encoded data slices as slice sets a-c. Forinstance, a plurality of sets of encoded data slices corresponds to eachof the three portions. For each data portion, each set of acorresponding plurality of sets of encoded data slices includes at leasta decode threshold number of encoded data slices and at most a pillarwidth a number of encoded data slices in accordance with thecommunications goals. For example, the DS processing unit 102 generatesa pillar width number of 32 encoded data slices to obtain acommunication goal of oversampling when a decode threshold is 10 andreceiving a decode threshold number of encoded data slices meets aminimum reliability communication goal.

In the example of operation continued, the sending DS processing unit102 sends the plurality of sets of encoded data slices a-c to thereceiving DS processing unit 104 via the network 24. The receiving DSprocessing unit 104 receives the plurality of sets of encoded dataslices as receive slice sets a-c. The receive slice sets a-c mayintroduce slice errors as compared to slice sets a-c when network 24experiences errors and outages. The receiving DS processing unit 104receives the receive slice sets a-c which may include at least someslices of the encoded data slice sets a-c as sent by the sending DSprocessing unit 102. The receiving DS processing unit 104 dispersedstorage error decodes each set of the received slices sets a-c utilizingcorresponding parameters of the plurality of sets of error codingdispersal storage function parameters to reproduce data portions a-c.The receiving DS processing unit 104 aggregates the data portions a-c toreproduce the data 106.

In an instance, the receiving DS processing unit 104 successfullyreproduces the data portions a-c with no errors. As another instance,the receiving DS processing unit 104 successfully reproduces less thanall of the data portions a-c, wherein the receiving DS processing unit104 fills in missing portions of one or more of the data portions a-c toproduce a modified version of the data 106. For instance, the receivingDS processing unit 104 successfully reproduces data portions a and b butnot data portion c. The receiving DS processing unit 104 substitutesfiller bits for data portions c to produce a synthesized data portion c.The receiving DS processing unit 104 aggregates data portions a-b andthe synthesized data portions c to produce a modified version of thedata 106.

FIG. 6B is a table illustrating an example of a data partition 108. Thedata partition 108 includes a plurality of data bytes 1-X organized by amost significant bit field (e.g., six bits), a middle bit field (e.g.,five bits), and a least significant bit field (e.g., five bits). Forexample, an audio file includes a plurality of data bytes 1-Xrepresenting 16-bit audio sampling bytes. As such, most significant bitsare more important than least significant bits in a subsequent decodingprocess to produce a reproduced audio file that is as close as possible(e.g., with minimal distortion) to an original audio file. The threefields are associated with three data portions. For example, a dataportion a includes the most significant bit field, wherein the mostsignificant six bits of each of the plurality of bytes 1-X is includedin data portion a. A data portion b includes the middle bit field,wherein the middle five bits of each of the plurality of bytes 1-X isincluded in data portion b. A data portion c includes the leastsignificant bit field, wherein the significant five bits of each of theplurality of bytes 1-X is included in data portion c.

Note that the data portion a may be more important than the dataportions c in the reproduction of the audio file. A sending dispersedstorage (DS) processing unit may select three sets of error codingdispersal storage function parameters to dispersed storage error encodeeach of the data portions a-c to achieve one or more system goals.System goals may include one or more of reliability, speed oftransmission, latency, availability, complexity, and simplicity. Forexample, the sending DS processing unit selects a first set of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters that align with highreliability to dispersed storage error encode the data portion a. Forinstance, the sending DS processing unit selects the first set ofparameters that include a pillar width of 15 and a decode threshold of8. As another example, the sending DS processing unit selects a secondset of error coding dispersal storage function parameters that alignwith more efficiency to dispersed storage error encode the data portionb. For instance, the sending DS processing unit selects the second setof parameters to include a pillar width of 12 and a decode threshold of8. As yet another example, the sending DS processing unit selects athird set of error coding dispersal storage function parameters thatalign with even more efficiency to dispersed storage error encode thedata portion c. For instance, the sending DS processing unit selects thethird set of parameters that include a pillar width of 10 and a decodethreshold of 8. The method to partition data and select error codingdispersal storage function parameters is discussed in greater detailwith reference to FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating an example of sending data. Themethod begins with step 110 where a processing module (e.g., of asending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data fortransmission. The data may include an analog or digital representationof any one of data content, media content, video, audio, speech, wordprocessing files, financial records, software, etc. The method continuesat step 112 where the processing module partitions the data inaccordance with a data partitioning scheme to produce a plurality ofdata portions. The processing module selects the data partitioningscheme by at least one of selecting the data partitioning scheme bydetermining a data characterization based on at least one of a dataanalysis (e.g., determine type of data such as video, audio, etc.),received data characterization information, a predetermination, amessage, a look up, and a comparison of the data to other characterizeddata and selecting the data partitioning scheme based on at least one ofthe data characterization, a lookup, a partitioning policy, apredetermination, a message, and a previous data partitioning approach.

The partitioning the data includes partitioning the data into a firstdata portion and a second data portion, wherein the first data portionincludes higher priority content of the data than the second dataportion. For example, the processing module partitions the data into afirst data portion that includes a most significant six bits of eachbyte of a plurality of bytes of the data and into a second portion thatinclude a least significant 10 bits of each byte of the plurality ofbytes of the data when each byte of the plurality of bytes includes a16-bit audio sample. As another example, the processing modulepartitions the data into a first data portion that includes a base frameset of bytes of a plurality of bytes of the data and into a change frameset of bytes of the plurality of bytes of the data when the dataincludes compressed video.

The method continues at step 114 where the processing module dispersedstorage error encodes the plurality of data portions using a pluralityof sets of error coding dispersal storage function parameters to producea plurality of sets of encoded data slices. The processing moduleselects the plurality of sets of error coding dispersal storage functionparameters by at least one of selecting the plurality of sets of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters by determining a datacharacterization based on at least one of a data analysis, received datacharacterization information, a predetermination, a message, a look up,a comparison of the data to other characterized data, and the datapartitioning approach and selecting the plurality of sets of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters based on at least one ofthe data characterization, the data partitioning approach, a reliabilityrequirement, a performance requirement, a lookup, a data encodingpolicy, a predetermination, a message, and a previous data encodingapproach. For example, the processing module selects a set of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters to generate a set of theplurality of sets of encoded data slices to include just a decodethreshold number of encoded data slices when a received datacharacterization indicates that only a decode threshold number ofencoded data slices are required to meet a reliability requirement. Asanother example, the processing module selects the set of error codingdispersal storage function parameters to generate the set of theplurality of sets of encoded data slices to include a pillar width minus2 number of encoded data slices when the received data characterizationindicates that mild oversampling is required to meet a performancerequirement. For instance, the processing module utilizes oversamplingwhen performance of a network connection between the sending DSprocessing unit and a receiving DS processing unit deteriorates whiletransmitting the data.

The method continues at step 116 where the processing module outputs theplurality of sets of encoded data slices. For sample, the processingmodule sends the plurality of sets of encoded data slices to thereceiving DS processing unit via a network. The method continues at step118 where the processing module provides an indication of the datapartitioning scheme and the plurality of sets of error coding dispersalstorage function parameters to a receiving entity. For example, theprocessing module sends the data partitioning scheme and the pluralityof sets of error coding dispersal storage function parameters to thereceiving DS processing unit. As another example, the processing modulesends the data partitioning scheme and the plurality of sets of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters to a dispersed storagenetwork (DSN) for storage therein and subsequent retrieval by thereceiving DS processing unit.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data,wherein the data has been encoded into a plurality of sets of encodeddata slices using a plurality of sets of error coding dispersal storagefunction parameters and a data partitioning scheme. The method beginswith step 120 where a processing module (e.g., of a receiving dispersedstorage (DS) processing unit) receives an indication of the datapartitioning scheme and the plurality of sets of error coding dispersalstorage function parameters from a transmitting entity. For example, theprocessing module receives a message from a sending DS processing unit,wherein the message includes the indication of the data partitioningscheme and the plurality of sets of error coding dispersal storagefunction parameters. As another example, the processing module retrievesthe indication of the data partitioning scheme and the plurality of setsof error coding dispersal storage function parameters from a dispersedstorage network (DSN) memory.

The method continues at step 122 where the processing module receives,via a network, at least a decode threshold number of encoded data slicesfor each set of the plurality of sets of encoded data slices. Thereceiving the at least a decode threshold number of encoded data slicesincludes determining whether an encoded data slice of the at least adecode threshold number of encoded data slices includes a bit error. Theprocessing module discards the encoded data slice from the at least adecode threshold number of encoded data slices to produce an updated setof encoded data slices when the encoded data slice includes the biterror. Next, the processing module determines whether the updated set ofencoded data slices includes at least a decodable number of encoded dataslices. The processing module dispersed storage error decodes the atleast a decode threshold number of encoded data slices includingdisperse storage error decoding the updated set of encoded data sliceswhen the updated set of encoded data slices includes at least adecodable number of encoded data slices. The processing module utilizesdata filler (e.g., bits of all zeros, bits of all ones) for thecorresponding data portion when the updated set of encoded data slicesdoes not includes at least a decodable number of encoded data slices.

The method continues at step 124 with a processing module dispersedstorage error decodes the at least a decode threshold number of encodeddata slices, for each set of the plurality of sets of encoded dataslices, using a corresponding one of the plurality of sets of errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters to produce a decoded dataportion. The method continues at step 126 where the processing modulerecaptures the data from a plurality of decoded data portions inaccordance with the data partitioning scheme. For example, theprocessing module aggregates a first, second, and third decoded dataportions, wherein the first and second decoded data portions areassociated with decodable number of encoded data slices and the thirddecoded data portion includes data filler.

FIG. 8A is another schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication system. The system includes a sending dispersed storage(DS) processing unit 102, a plurality of relay units 128, and areceiving DS processing unit 104. In an implementation example, thesending DS processing unit 102, at least some of the plurality of relayunits 128, and the receiving DS processing unit 104 include a DSprocessing module 34. The sending DS processing unit 102, the pluralityof relay units 128, and the receiving DS processing unit 104 operate tocommunicate data. A plurality of routing paths 1-4 may be provided bythe plurality of relay units 128 and a topology of connectivity betweenthe sending DS processing unit 102, the plurality of relay units 128,and the receiving DS processing unit 104. Routing path 1 includes onerelay unit 128 between the sending DS processing unit 102 and thereceiving DS processing unit 104. Routing path 2 includes two relayunits 128 between the sending DS processing unit 102 and the receivingDS processing unit 104.

A plurality of routing sub-paths may be provided by at least some of theplurality of relay units 128 and a topology of connectivity between theat least some of the plurality of relay units 128. For example, routingpath 3 includes three relay units 128 between the sending DS processingunit 102 and the receiving DS processing unit 104, wherein a routingsub-path 3 a includes two of the three relay units 128 and routingsub-path 3 b includes all three of the three relay units 128. As anotherexample, routing path 4 includes six relay units 128 between the sendingDS processing unit 102 and the receiving DS processing unit 104, whereinrouting sub-path 4 a includes three of the six relay units 128, routingsub-path 4 b includes three of the six relay units 128, and routingsub-path 4 c includes four of the six relay units 128.

The sending DS processing unit 102 sends data 106 utilizing one or moreof the plurality of routing paths 1-4 to communicate the data 106 to thereceiving DS processing unit 104. In an example of operation, thesending DS processing unit 102 receives data 106. Next, the sending DSprocessing unit 102 determines one or more of communicationsrequirements (e.g., a reliability level) and routing path quality ofservice information (e.g., reliability history, a future reliabilityestimate). The sending DS processing unit 102 selects a set of routingpaths of the plurality of routing paths to produce a selected set ofrouting paths based on the communications requirements and the routingpath quality of service information. Such a selected set of routingpaths may include one or more sub-paths. Next, the sending DS processingunit 102 dispersed storage error encodes the data 106 to produce aplurality of sets of encoded data slices.

The sending DS processing unit 102 determines a path assignment schemebased on the communications requirements and the routing path quality ofservice information. The sending DS processing unit 102 assigns encodeddata slices of the plurality of sets of encoded data slicescorresponding to each common pillar to a corresponding path of theselected set of routing paths utilizing the path assignment scheme. Thesending DS processing unit 102 sends the plurality of sets of encodeddata slices to the receiving DS processing unit 104 via the selected setof routing paths in accordance with the path assignment scheme. Forinstance, the sending DS processing unit 102 sends more slices via path4 than via path 1 when the sending DS processing unit 102 determinesthat the path 4 slices require a more reliable path than the path 1slices. The method of operation of the sending DS processing unit 102,the plurality of relay units 128, and the receiving DS processing unit104 is discussed in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 8B-24.

In an example of operation, the sending DS processing unit 102 (e.g. afirst device) determines an error coding distributed routing protocoland transmits a set of encoded data slices (e.g., slices 11), identityof the receiving DS processing unit 104 (e.g. a second device), and theerror coding distributed routing protocol to a network (e.g., pluralityof relay units 128, the receiving DS processing unit 104), wherein theset of encoded data slices represents data that has been dispersedstorage error encoded. The error coding distributed routing protocolincludes at least one of identity of the initial plurality of routingpaths, a number of routing paths, a number of sub-sets of the set ofencoded data slices, the desired routing performance for one or more ofthe sub-sets of the set of encoded data slices, a request for multiplepath transmission of the set of encoded data slices, a capacity estimateof the initial plurality of routing paths, a priority indicator for atleast one of the sub-sets, a security indicator for at least one of thesub-sets, and a performance indicator for at least one of the sub-sets.

In the example of operation continued, the network routes a plurality ofsub-sets of the set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality ofrouting paths towards the second device in accordance with the errorcoding distributed routing protocol. Next, the network comparesanticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with a desired routing performance (e.g., of the error codingdistributed routing protocol). The comparing the anticipated routingperformance includes for a link of a plurality of links of the routingpath, determining the anticipated routing performance of the link,comparing the anticipated routing performance of the link with acorresponding portion of the desired routing performance, and when thecomparison of the anticipated routing performance of the link with thecorresponding portion of the desired routing performance is unfavorable,indicating that the comparison of the anticipated routing performance ofthe routing of the plurality of sub-sets with the desired routingperformance is unfavorable.

In the example of operation continued, the network alters the routingpath to obtain a favorable comparison when the comparison of a routingpath of the initial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable. Forexample, the network determines the routing paths to be unfavorable whenan absolute value of a difference between the anticipated routingperformance and the desired routing performance is greater than aperformance threshold). The altering the routing path includes dispersedstorage error encoding an encoded data slice of a corresponding sub-setof the plurality of sub-sets to produce a set of encoded datasub-slices, determining a plurality of sub-routing paths, and routingthe set of encoded data sub-slices to the second device via theplurality of sub-routing paths. The altering the routing path furtherincludes at least one of selecting a lower latency routing path,selecting a higher data rate routing path, selecting a routing path withhigher capacity, selecting a routing path with a lower error rate,selecting a routing path with a higher cost, selecting a higher latencyrouting path, selecting a lower data rate routing path, selecting arouting path with a higher error rate, selecting a routing path with alower cost, and selecting a routing path with lower capacity.

In the example of operation continued, the receiving DS processing unit104 receives at least some of the set of encoded data slices from thenetwork and when at least a threshold number (e.g., a decode thresholdnumber) of encoded data slices have been received, the DS processingunit 104 decodes the at least a threshold number of encoded data slicesto reproduce the data 106.

FIG. 8B is another schematic block diagram of another embodiment of acommunication system. The system includes a sending dispersed storage(DS) processing unit 102, a network node 129, a plurality of relay units128, and a receiving DS processing unit 104. In an implementationexample, the sending DS processing unit 102, the network node 129, atleast some of the plurality of relay units 128, and the receiving DSprocessing unit 104 include a DS processing module 34. The sending DSprocessing unit 102, the network node 129, the plurality of relay units128, and the receiving DS processing unit 104 operate to communicatedata. A plurality of routing paths 1-4 may be provided by the pluralityof relay units 128 and a topology of connectivity between the sending DSprocessing unit 102, the network node 129, the plurality of relay units128, and the receiving DS processing unit 104. Routing path 1 includesone relay unit 128 between the sending DS processing unit 102 and thereceiving DS processing unit 104. Routing path 2 includes two relayunits 128 between the sending DS processing unit 102 and the receivingDS processing unit 104.

A plurality of routing sub-paths may be provided by at least some of theplurality of relay units 128 and a topology of connectivity between theat least some of the plurality of relay units 128. For example, routingpath 3 includes three relay units 128 between the network node 129 andthe receiving DS processing unit 104, wherein a routing sub-path 3 aincludes two of the three relay units 128 and routing sub-path 3 bincludes all three of the three relay units 128. As another example,routing path 4 includes six relay units 128 between the network node 129and the receiving DS processing unit 104, wherein routing sub-path 4 aincludes three of the six relay units 128, routing sub-path 4 b includesthree of the six relay units 128, and routing sub-path 4 c includes fourof the six relay units 128.

In an example of operation, the sending DS processing unit 102 (e.g. afirst device) determines an error coding distributed routing protocoland transmits a set of encoded data slices (e.g., slices 11), identityof the receiving DS processing unit 104 (e.g. a second device), and theerror coding distributed routing protocol to a network (e.g., thenetwork node 129 and/or the plurality of relay units 128), wherein theset of encoded data slices represents data that has been dispersedstorage error encoded. The network node 129 receives from the sending DSprocessing unit 102 the set of encoded data slices, identity of thereceiving DS processing unit 104, and the error coding distributedrouting protocol. The network node 129 routes a plurality of sub-sets ofthe set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality of routing pathsfrom the sending DS processing unit 102 towards the receiving DSprocessing unit 104 in accordance with the error coding distributedrouting protocol.

In the example continued, the network node 129 compares anticipatedrouting performance of the routing of the plurality of sub-sets with adesired routing performance. The comparing the anticipated routingperformance includes determining the anticipated routing performance ofa link of a plurality of links of the routing path, comparing theanticipated routing performance of the link with a corresponding portionof the desired routing performance, and when the comparison of theanticipated routing performance of the link with the correspondingportion of the desired routing performance is unfavorable, indicatingthat the comparison of the anticipated routing performance of therouting of the plurality of sub-sets with the desired routingperformance is unfavorable.

In the example continued, the network node 129 alters the routing pathsto obtain a favorable comparison when the comparison of a routing pathof the initial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable. The alteringthe routing path includes dispersed storage error encoding an encodeddata slice of a corresponding sub-set of the plurality of sub-sets toproduce a set of encoded data sub-slices, determining a plurality ofsub-routing paths, and routing the set of encoded data sub-slices to thesecond device via the plurality of sub-routing paths. The altering therouting path further includes at least one of selecting a lower latencyrouting path, selecting a higher data rate routing path, selecting arouting path with higher capacity, selecting a routing path with a lowererror rate, selecting a routing path with a higher cost, selecting ahigher latency routing path, selecting a lower data rate routing path,selecting a routing path with a higher error rate, selecting a routingpath with a lower cost, and selecting a routing path with lowercapacity.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data,which include similar steps to FIG. 7. The method begins with step 110of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sending dispersedstorage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission. The methodcontinues at step 132 where the processing module dispersed storageerror encodes the data utilizing an error coding dispersal storagefunction to produce at least a set of encoded data slices. The methodcontinues at step 134 where the processing module obtains routing pathquality of service information. The routing path quality of serviceinformation may include one or more of latency information, reliabilityinformation, bandwidth information, speed of communications information,availability information, bit jitter information, and securityinformation. The obtaining of the routing path quality of serviceinformation may be based on one or more of receiving the informationfrom a relay unit, receiving information from a receiving DS processingunit, receiving information from a sending DS processing unit, a lookup,a query, a test result, historical records, and a command. For example,the processing module receives the routing path quality of serviceinformation from a receiving DS processing unit, wherein the receivingDS processing unit aggregated historical quality of service informationto produce the routing path quality of service information.

The method continues at step 136 where the processing module determinescandidate routing paths. The candidate routing paths represent one ormore possible communications paths from the processing module to areceiving entity (e.g., the receiving DS processing unit). Thedetermination may be based on one or more of receiving a message, alookup, a query, a plurality of communications ping requests andresponses, a test, a routing table, a message from a router, a messagefrom a relay unit, and a command. For example, the processing moduledetermines candidate routing paths based on a query of relay unitfunctionally or topologically (e.g., architecturally) between theprocessing module and the receiving entity. As another example, theprocessing module determines candidate routing paths based on receivingrouting table information from one or more relay units, wherein a relayunit includes a router that generates and stores a routing tablecontaining the routing table information.

The method continues at step 138 where the processing module selectsrouting paths from the candidate routing paths to produce selectedrouting paths. The selection may be based on one or more of the set ofencoded data slices, the routing path quality of service information,the candidate routing paths, routing requirements, historical routingpath performance, estimated routing path performance, a message, alookup, a predetermination, and a command. For example, the processingmodule selects routing paths associated with favorable historicalrouting path reliability performance when a routing requirement includeshigh reliability. As another example, the processing module selectsrouting paths associated with favorable historical routing path highspeed performance when a routing requirement includes high speed.

The method continues at step 140 where the processing module assignseach encoded data slice of the least a set of encoded data slices to therouting paths. The assigning may be based on one or more of the encodeddata slices, the routing path quality of service information, thecandidate routing paths, the selected routing paths, routingrequirements, historical routing path performance, estimated routingpath performance, a message, a lookup, a predetermination, and acommand. For example, the processing module assigns encoded data slicesassociated with information bytes to routing paths associated with highspeed and high reliability. As such, this selection may provide a systemimprovement enabling data to be decoded more quickly by the receivingentity when there no slice errors are generated during transmission ofthe encoded data slices. As another example, the processing moduleassigns encoded data slices associated with parity bytes to routingpaths associated with lower speeds. As such, this alternate selectionmay provide a system communication reliability improvement when sliceerrors are generated during transmission of encoded data slicesassociated with information bytes and a decode threshold number of totalencoded data slices are received by the receiving entity. The methodcontinues at step 142 where the processing module sends the at least aset of encoded data slices to the receiving entity via the selectedrouting paths utilizing the encoded data slice to routing pathassignments.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data,which include similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method begins withstep 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmissionand continues with steps 132, 136, and 138 of FIG. 9 where theprocessing module dispersed error encodes the data to produce at least aset of encoded data slices, determines candidate routing paths, andselects routing paths from the candidate routing paths.

The method continues at step 144 where the processing module replicatesat least some of the set of encoded data slices to produce replicatedencoded data slices. The processing module selects the at least some ofthe set of encoded data slices based on one or more of the encoded dataslices, the quality of service information, the candidate routing paths,the selected routing paths, a priority indicator, a security indicator,a performance indicator, an estimated routing path performanceindicator, a lookup, and a message. For example, the processing moduleselects encoded data slices that are associated with higher prioritycontent such as header information or directory information based on apriority indicator.

The method continues with step 140 of FIG. 9 where the processing moduleassigns the encoded data slices to set of routing paths. The methodcontinues at step 146 where the processing module assigns the replicatedencoded data slices to a second set of routing paths. The assigning maybe based on one or more of the replicated encoded data slices, theencoded data slices, the assignment of the encoded data slices to theset of routing paths, the routing path quality of service information,the candidate routing paths, the selected routing paths, routingrequirements, historical routing path performance, estimated routingpath performance, a message, a lookup, a predetermination, thereplicated encoded data slices, a performance indicator, a priorityindicator, a security indicator, and a command. For example, theprocessing module assigns replicated encoded data slices associated withinformation bytes to second routing paths associated with high speed andhigh reliability. Such assignment may provide a system improvementwherein the data is decoded faster by the receiving entity when thereare errors in transmission of the encoded data slices containinginformation bytes since the replicated encoded data slices aretransmitted essentially in parallel (e.g., via the second set of routingpaths). As another example, the processing module assigns replicatedencoded data slices associated with parity bytes to second routing pathsassociated with lower speeds. Such assignment may provide a systemcommunication reliability improvement wherein the data is decodedwithout retransmission when slice errors occur associated with paritybytes and a decode threshold number of total slices are received by thereceiving entity. The method continues at step 148 where the processingmodule sends the encoded data slices to the receiving entity via the setof routing paths and sends the replicated encoded data slices to thereceiving entity via the second set of routing paths.

FIG. 11A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data,which include similar steps to FIG. 7. The method begins with the stepof FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sending dispersedstorage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission. The methodcontinues at step 152 where the processing module determines errorcoding dispersal storage function parameters based on at least one of adata characterization, a routing approach, a reliability requirement, aperformance requirement, a lookup, a data encoding policy, apredetermination, a message, and a previous data encoding approach. Themethod continues at step 154 where the processing module dispersedstorage error encodes the data in accordance with the error codingdispersal storage function parameters to produce a set of encoded dataslices.

The method continues at step 156 where the processing module obtains theset of encoded data slices for transmission to a receiving entity via anetwork, wherein the set of encoded data slices represents data that hasbeen dispersed storage error encoded. The obtaining includes at leastone of utilizing the set of encoded data slices, receiving the set ofencoded data slices from a sending entity, retrieving the set of encodeddata slices from a dispersed storage network (DSN) memory, andretrieving the set of encoded data slices.

The method continues at step 158 where the processing module divides theset into a plurality of sub-sets (e.g., one or more pillars) of encodeddata slices in accordance with an error coding distributed routingprotocol. The dividing the set into the plurality of sub-sets includesdetermining a number of sub-sets in accordance with the error codingdistributed routing protocol, wherein the error coding distributedrouting protocol includes at least one of routing path quality ofservice information, a partitioning function, a capacity estimate of theplurality of routing paths, a sub-set size indicator, a priorityindicator, a security indicator, a performance indicator, an estimatedrouting path performance indicator, a lookup, and a message. Forexample, the processing module divides the set into two sub-sets,wherein a first sub-set includes encoded data slices corresponding tofour pillars and a second sub-set includes encoded data slicescorresponding to a remaining two pillars when a pillar width is six.

The method continues at step 160 with a processing module determines aplurality of routing paths within the network in accordance with theerror coding distributed routing protocol. The determining the pluralityof routing paths includes obtaining routing path quality of serviceinformation corresponding to a plurality of candidate routing paths tothe receiving entity and selecting the plurality of routing paths fromthe plurality of candidate routing paths based on the routing pathquality of service information and the error coding distributed routingprotocol.

The method continues at step 162 where the processing module transmitsthe plurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices via the plurality ofrouting paths to the receiving entity in accordance with the errorcoding distributed routing protocol. For example, the processing moduletransmits the first sub-set of encoded data slices utilizing a routingpath that is twice as fast as other paths based on an estimated routingpath performance indicator. As another example, the processing moduletransmits the second sub-set of encoded data slices utilizing a routingpath that is half as fast as a fastest path based on an estimatedrouting path performance indicator. Such a method may provide a systemimprovement wherein data is decoded faster by a receiving entity whenthe encoded data slices communicated via the two sub-sets arrive at thereceiving entity at approximately a same time.

In addition, the processing module may obtain a second set of encodeddata slices for transmission to the receiving entity via the network,divide the second set into a second plurality of sub-sets of encodeddata slices in accordance with the error coding distributed routingprotocol, wherein a sub-set of the plurality of sub-sets includes one ormore like pillar number encoded data slices as a corresponding sub-setof the second plurality of sub-sets, determine a second plurality ofrouting paths within the network in accordance with the error codingdistributed routing protocol, and transmit the second plurality ofsub-sets of encoded data slices via the second plurality of routingpaths to the receiving entity in accordance with the error codingdistributed routing protocol.

FIG. 11B is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data asslices. The method begins with step 172 where a processing module (e.g.,of a receiving dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains an errorcoding distributed routing protocol that includes at least one ofrouting path quality of service information, a partitioning function, acapacity estimate of the plurality of routing paths, a sub-set sizeindicator, a priority indicator, a security indicator, a performanceindicator, an estimated routing path performance indicator, a lookup,and a message. The obtaining includes at least one of receiving theerror coding distributed routing protocol from a sending entity andretrieving the error coding distributed routing protocol.

The method continues at step 174 where the processing module receives aplurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices via a plurality of routingpaths within a network from a sending entity in accordance with theerror coding distributed routing protocol. The method continues at step176 where the processing module combines at least some of the pluralityof sub-sets of encoded data slices in accordance with the error codingdistributed routing protocol to produce at least a decode thresholdnumber of encoded data slices.

For example, the processing module combines a first sub-set of theplurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices with a second sub-set ofthe plurality of sub-sets of encoded data slices to produce the at leastthe decode threshold number of encoded data slices when the firstsub-set includes encoded data slices corresponding to pillars one, two,and three, the second sub-set includes encoded data slices correspondingto pillar four, and the decode threshold number is four. As anotherexample, the processing module utilizes a third sub-set of the pluralityof sub-sets of encoded data slices to produce the at least the decodethreshold number of encoded data slices when the third sub-set includesencoded data slices corresponding to pillars one, two, three, and fourand the decode threshold number is four. The method continues at step178 where the processing module dispersed storage error decodes the atleast a decode threshold number of encoded data slices to produce data.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of determining acommunications configuration. The method begins at step 180 where aprocessing module (e.g., a sending dispersed storage (DS) processingunit and/or a receiving DS processing unit) determines activecommunication routing paths of a communications configuration. Such acommunications configuration may include one or more of one or moresending DS processing units, one or more receiving DS processing units,a plurality of relay units, a communications network, a topology ofinterconnectivity between units, a routing path capacity indicator, arouting paths latency indicator, a routing path speed indicator, andoperational information. The active communications routing paths mayinclude a list of routing paths and associations to currentcommunications. For example, a routing path 4 a has an association witha sending DS processing unit 2, wherein the sending DS processing unit 2sends encoded data slices of pillar 6 to a receiving DS processing unit9 via the routing path 4 a. The determination of the activecommunication routing paths may be based on one or more of a query, alist, a test, a measurement, a DS managing unit update, a message from asending DS processing unit, a message from a receiving DS processingunit, a message from a relay unit, and a command. For example, theprocessing module determines the active communication routing pathsbased on a message from sending DS processing unit 2 and a message fromrelay unit 4.

The method continues at step 182 where the processing module obtainsactive communication routing path quality of service information. Theobtaining may be based on one or more of receiving the information froma relay unit that is a member of the routing path, receiving informationfrom a receiving DS processing unit that is a member of the routingpath, receiving information from a sending DS processing unit that is amember of the routing path, a lookup, a query, a test result, historicalrecords, and a command. For example, the processing module receives theactive communications routing path quality of service information from areceiving DS processing unit, wherein the receiving DS processing unitaggregated historical quality of service information to produce theactive communication routing path quality of service information.

The method continues at step 184 where the processing module determinesother routing paths. The other routing paths may include alternativepaths to the active communications routing paths that may also provideinterconnectivity between a sending DS processing unit and a targetedreceiving DS processing unit. The determination may be based on one ormore of the communications configuration, the active communicationrouting paths, receiving a message, a lookup, a query, a plurality ofcommunications ping requests and responses, a test, a routing table, amessage from a router, a message from a relay unit, and a command.

The method continues at step 186 where the processing module obtainsother routing path quality of service information. The obtaining may bebased on one or more of the active communications routing path qualityof service information, the active communication routing paths, theother routing paths, receiving the information from a relay unit,receiving information from a receiving DS processing unit, receivinginformation from a sending DS processing unit, a lookup, a query, a testresult, historical records, and a command. For example, the processingmodule determines the other routing path quality of service informationbased on receiving a message from a receiving DS processing unit,wherein the receiving DS processing unit aggregated historical qualityof service information to produce the other routing path quality ofservice information.

The method continues at step 188 where the processing module determinescandidate routing paths to support the needs of the communicationsconfiguration. The candidate routing paths represent one or morecommunications paths from one or more senders (e.g., a sending DSprocessing unit) to one or more receiving entities (e.g., a receiving DSprocessing unit). The determination may be based on one or more of thecommunications configuration, the active communications routing pathquality of service information, the other routing paths, the otherrouting path quality of service information, a communicationsrequirement, an estimated routing path performance, receiving a message,a lookup, a query, a plurality of communications ping requests andresponses, a test, a routing table, a message from a router, a messagefrom a relay unit, and a command. For example, the processing moduledetermines candidate routing paths based on a query of unitsfunctionally or topologically (e.g., architecturally) between eachsender and each target of a communications configuration. As anotherexample, the processing module determines candidate routing paths basedon receiving routing table information from one or more relay units.

The method continues at step 190 where the processing module determinesa new communications configuration, wherein routing paths are selectedfrom the candidate communication routing paths to optimize thecommunication of data from one or more sending DS processing units toone or more receiving DS processing units. The determination may bebased on one or more of the communications configuration, the activecommunications routing path quality of service information, the otherrouting paths, the other routing path quality of service information,the candidate communications routing paths, a communicationsrequirement, an estimated candidate routing path performance, receivinga message, a lookup, a query, a plurality of communications pingrequests and responses, a test, a routing table, a message from arouter, a message from a relay unit, and a command. For example, theprocessing module determines the new communications configuration basedon an estimated candidate routing path performance that meets or exceedsa communications requirement. The method continues at step 192 where theprocessing module sends the new communications configuration to one ormore sending DS processing units, one or more relay units, one or morereceiving DS processing units. Alternatively, or in addition to, theprocessing module may send the quality of service information associatedwith the selected routing paths of the candidate communication routingpaths.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which include similar steps to FIGS. 7, 9, and 11A. The methodbegins with step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of asending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data fortransmission. The method continues with steps 136-138 of FIG. 9 wherethe processing module determines candidate routing paths, obtainsrouting path quality of service information and selects routing pathsfrom the candidate routing paths.

The method continues with steps 152-154 of FIG. 11A where the processingmodule determines error coding dispersal storage function parameters anddispersed storage error encodes the data utilizing an error codingdispersal storage function in accordance with the error coding dispersalstorage function parameters to produce a set of encoded data slices. Forexample, the processing module determines the error coding dispersalstorage function parameters to include a pillar width and a thresholdset for each data segment based on the routing path quality of serviceinformation and the communications requirement. For instance, theprocessing module selects a pillar width of 10 and a decode threshold of8 when the communications requirement includes a high-efficiencyrequirement. As another instance, the processing module selects a pillarwidth of 15 and a decode threshold of 8 when the communicationsrequirement includes a high-reliability requirement. The methodcontinues with steps 140-142 of FIG. 9 where the processing moduleassigns the set of encoded data slices to the selected routing paths andsends the set of encoded data slices via the routing paths.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating an example of receiving data, whichincludes similar steps to FIG. 11B. The method begins at step 194 wherea processing module (e.g., a receiving dispersed storage (DS) processingunit) receives a decode threshold number of encoded data slicescommunicated over two or more routing paths. The method continues withstep 178 of FIG. 11B where the processing module dispersed storage errordecodes the decode threshold number of encoded data slices to produce adata segment. In addition, the processing module may obtain (e.g.,receive or decode) a stored data segment integrity check indicator. Themethod continues at step 196 where the processing module determineswhether the data segment is valid. The determination may be based on oneor more of the stored data segment integrity check indicator,calculating an integrity check value based on the data segment toproduce a calculated integrity check value, and determining if thestored data segment integrity check indicator compares favorably (e.g.,substantially the same) to the calculated integrity check value. Themethod branches to step 200 when the processing module determines thatthe data segment is valid. The method continues to step 198 when theprocessing module determines that the data segment is not valid. Themethod continues at step 198 where the processing module receives atleast one more encoded data source. The method repeats back to step 194where the processing module receives the decode threshold number ofencoded data slices communicated over two or more routing paths.

The method continues at step 200 where the processing module determinesactive communication routing paths of a communications configurationwhen the processing module determines that the data segment is valid.The determination may be based on one or more of routing pathsassociated with the threshold number of encoded data slices, a query, alist, a test, a measurement, a DS managing unit update, a message from asending DS processing unit, a message from a receiving DS processingunit, a message from a relay unit, and a command. For example, theprocessing module determines the active communication routing pathsbased on a message from sending DS processing unit 2 and a message fromrelay unit 4 indicating that encoded data slices of pillar 3 arecommunicated via routing path 3 a.

The method continues at step 202 where the processing module determinesunits associated with the active communication routing paths. The unitsmay include a plurality of relay units associated with the activecommunication routing paths. The determination may be based on one ormore of the communications configuration, one or more of routing pathsassociated with the threshold number of encoded data slices, a query, alist, a test, a measurement, a DS managing unit update, a message from asending DS processing unit, a message from a receiving DS processingunit, a message from a relay unit, and a command. For example, theprocessing module determines the units associated with the activecommunication routing paths based on receiving the communicationsconfiguration information from a sending DS processing unit. The methodcontinues at step 204 where the processing module sends a cancel slicesmessage to the units associated with the communication routing paths ofthis data segment. Such a step may provide a system efficiencyimprovement by eliminating unnecessary transmission of encoded dataslices.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method beginswith step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission.The method continues at step 206 where the processing module dispersedstorage error encodes the data utilizing an error coding dispersalstorage function to produce a plurality of sets of encoded data slices.The method continues with steps 136-138 of FIG. 9 where the processingmodule obtains routing path quality of service information, determinescandidate routing paths, and selects routing paths from the candidaterouting paths.

The method continues at step 208 where the processing module assignspillars of the plurality of encoded data slices to the selected routingpaths. The assignment may be based on one or more of the encoded dataslices, a communications performance requirement, a routing pathperformance estimate, routing path performance history, the routing pathquality of service information, the candidate routing paths, and theselected routing paths. For example, the processing module assignspillars 1-5 to routing path 1, pillars 6-10 to routing path 2, pillars11-13 to routing path 3 a, and pillars 14-16 to routing path 4 c when apillar width is 16, a decode threshold is 10, routing paths 1 and 2 arefaster than routing paths 3 a and 4 c, and routing paths 3 a and 4 c aremore reliable than routing paths 1 and 2. The processing module mayassign different sets of pillars on a data segment by data segmentbasis. The method continues at step 210 where the processing modulesends encoded data slices of like pillars from each of the plurality ofsets of encoded data slices via a same associated routing path. Theslices of the same pillar may be sent on just one common path.

FIG. 16A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method beginswith step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission.The method continues with steps 136-140 of FIG. 9 where the processingmodule dispersed storage error encodes the data utilizing an errorcoding dispersal storage function to produce a set of encoded dataslices, obtains routing path quality of service information, determinescandidate routing paths, selects routing paths from the candidaterouting paths, and assigns the set of encoded data slices to theselected routing paths.

The method continues at step 212 where the processing module createsdispersal information. The dispersal information includes one or more ofthe routing paths, the candidate routing paths, the routing path qualityof service information, error coding dispersal storage functionparameters utilized to dispersed storage error encode the data, a pillaridentifier, a priority indicator, a sub-slicing indicator, a new routeselection permissions indicator, a data segment identifier, a slicename, and a source name. The sub-slicing indicator may be utilized byone or more relay units to determine whether to sub-slice a receivedslice and select one or more new alternative routing paths to sendsub-slices to a targeted receiving DS processing unit. The new routeselection permissions indicator may be utilized by one or more relayunits to determine whether to reselect routing paths as the encoded dataslices are communicated from a sending DS processing unit to thetargeted receiving DS processing unit.

The processing module may determine the new route selection permissionsindicator based on one or more of a system performance indicator, avault lookup, a user permission, a historical routing path performanceindicator, a permissions list, and authorization lists, a securityindicator, a priority indicator, and a performance indicator. Forexample, the processing module establishes the new route selectionpermissions indicator to exclude a relay unit from establishing a newroute when the authorization lists indicates that the user is notallowed to utilize routing paths beyond an initial assignment. Asanother example, the processing module establishes the new routeselection permissions indicator to enable the relay unit to establish anew route when a historical routing path performance indicator indicatesthat subsequent new route selection provides a performance improvement.The method continues at step 214 where the processing module sends theset of encoded data slices and dispersal information via the routingpaths to a receiving entity.

FIG. 16B is a flowchart illustrating an example of re-routing data,which includes similar steps to FIG. 9. The method begins at step 216where a processing module (e.g., of a relay unit) receives encoded dataslices and dispersal information. The method continues at step 218 wherethe processing module determines whether to alter routing paths. Thedetermination may be based on one or more of a routing permissionsindicator included in the dispersal information, a vault lookup, a list,a predetermination, a routing paths quality of service indicator, anerror message, and a command. For example, the processing moduledetermines that altering the routing paths is allowed when the dispersalinformation includes a new route selection permissions indicator thatindicates establishing a new route is allowed. The method branches tostep 134 of FIG. 9 when the processing module determines to alterrouting paths. The method continues to step 220 when the processingmodule determines not to alter routing paths. The method continues atstep 220 where the processing module forwards the encoded data slicesand dispersal information (e.g., in accordance with an original routingpath) when the processing module determines not to alter routing paths.

The method continues with steps 134-136 of FIG. 9 where the processingmodule obtains routing path quality of service information anddetermines candidate routing paths when the processing module determinesto alter routing paths. The processing module may consider currentlyavailable paths from a perspective of the processing module (e.g., therelay unit). The method continues at step 222 where the processingmodule selects routing paths from the candidate routing paths to producealtered paths. The processing module selects routing paths from theperspective of the processing module (e.g., the relay unit).

The method continues at step 224 where the processing module modifiesthe encoded data slices and/or the dispersal information. For example,the processing module modifies the dispersal information to include thealtered paths. As another example, the processing module modifies theencoded data slices to include replicated encoded data slices. Themethod continues at step 226 where the processing module assigns a setof encoded data slices to the altered routing paths. The methodcontinues at step 228 where the processing module sends the modified setof encoded data slices and the modified dispersal information viaassociated altered routing paths.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method beginswith step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission.The method continues with steps 132, 136, and 138 of FIG. 9 where theprocessing module dispersed storage error encodes the data utilizing anerror coding dispersal storage function to produce a set of encoded dataslices, obtains routing path quality of service information, determinescandidate routing paths, and selects routing paths from the candidaterouting paths.

The method continues at step 230 where the processing module determinesrelay units associated with the routing paths. The determination may bebased on one or more of the selected routing paths, networkconfiguration information, a communications configuration, a query, alist, a test, a measurement, a DS managing unit update, a message from asending DS processing unit, a message from a receiving DS processingunit, a message from a relay unit, and a command. For example, theprocessing module determines the relay units associated with the routingpaths based on receiving the communications configuration informationfrom a sending DS processing unit. The method continues at step 232where the processing module sends routing path assignment information tothe relay units. The routing path assignment information includes one ormore of a routing path identifier, a relay unit identifier, a receivingDS processing unit identifier, and a sending DS processing unitidentifier. The routing path assignment information may be subsequentlyutilized by a relay unit to determine how to process and/or forwardreceived encoded data slices. The method continues at step 234 where theprocessing module sends the encoded data slices via the associatedrouting paths.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method beginswith step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission.The method continues with steps 132, 136, 138, 140, 142 of FIG. 9 wherethe processing module dispersed storage error encodes the data utilizingan error coding dispersal storage function to produce a set of encodeddata slices, obtains routing path quality of service information,determines candidate routing paths, selects routing paths from thecandidate routing paths, assigns a set of encoded data slices to theselected routing paths, and sends the set of encoded data slices via therouting paths. Alternatively, the processing module may not send encodeddata slices of a particular pillar when processing module determines tolower network bandwidth utilization.

The method continues at step 236 where the processing module receives asegment decode failure message. The failure message may include one ormore of a failure indicator, a data segment identifier, one or moreslice names, a source name, a receiving DS processing unit identifier,one or more relay unit identifiers, and a routing path identifier. Themethod continues at step 238 where the processing module dispersed errorencodes the data utilizing new error coding dispersal storage functionparameters to produce a second set of encoded data slices. For example,the processing module encodes the data with new parameters where the newparameters include an additional three pillars (e.g., such that theprevious slices are still usable to decode data segments).

The method continues at step 240 where the processing modulere-determines candidate routing paths. The processing module mayre-determine candidate routing paths to include fewer routing paths thanan original number of routing. For example, the processing modulere-determines candidate routing paths such that the resultingre-selected routing paths do not include any failed paths as indicatedby the data segment decode failure message. The method continues at step242 where the processing module re-selects routing paths from candidaterouting paths. The processing module selects routing paths that bestmeet communication requirements utilizing currently available routingpaths.

The method continues at step 244 where the processing module assigns atleast some of the second set of encoded data slices to the re-selectedrouting paths. For example, the processing module assigns re-selectedrouting paths to the second set of encoded data slices that representinformation bytes to enable improved decoding of a data segment by areceiving DS processing unit. The method continues at step 246 where theprocessing module re-sends at least some of the second set of encodeddata slices via the associated re-selected routing paths.

In an example of operation of a receiving DS processing unit, the methodbegins where a processing module of the receiving DS processing unitreceives a slice of a new data segment. The processing module starts areceive timer. The processing module creates and sends a data segmentfailure message when the timer expires and less than a decode thresholdnumber of slices have been received. The data segment failure messagemay include one or more of slice names that were received, slice namesthat were not received, pillar identifiers of slices received, andpillar identifiers of slices not received.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7, 9, and 18. The methodbegins with step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of asending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data fortransmission. The method continues with steps 132, 136, 138, 140, 142 ofFIG. 9 where the processing module dispersed storage error encodes thedata utilizing an error coding dispersal storage function to produce aset of encoded data slices, obtains routing path quality of serviceinformation, determines candidate routing paths, selects routing pathsfrom the candidate routing paths, assigns a set of encoded data slicesto the selected routing paths, and sends the set of encoded data slicesvia the routing paths. The method continues with step 236 of FIG. 18where the processing module receives a segment decode failure message.

The method continues at step 248 where the processing module determinesmissing slices. The missing slices include slice names of encoded dataslices of the data segment that were not received within a timeframe.The determination may be based on one or more of received slice names, asource name of the data segment, a data segment identifier, adetermination of a list of all the slice names of the data segment, anda comparison of the received slice names to the list of all of the slicenames of the data segment. The method continues at steps 240-242 of FIG.18 where the processing module re-determines candidate routing paths,re-determines candidate routing paths such that the resultingre-selected routing paths do not include any failed paths as indicatedby the data segment decode failure message, and re-selects routing pathsfrom candidate routing paths.

The method continues at step 250 where the processing module assigns themissing encoded data slices to the re-selected routing paths. Forexample, the processing module assigns re-selected routing paths tomissing encoded data slices that represent information bytes to enablemore rapid decoding of the data segment by the receiving DS processingunit. The method continues at step 252 where the processing modulere-sends the missing encoded data slices via the associated re-selectedrouting paths.

FIG. 20A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, which includes similar steps to FIGS. 7, 9, and 16A. The methodbegins with step 110 of FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of asending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data fortransmission. The method continues with steps 136-140 of FIG. 9 wherethe processing module obtains routing path quality of serviceinformation, determines candidate routing paths, selects routing pathsfrom the candidate routing paths, and assigns slices to the selectedrouting paths. Such an assignment may be based on one or more of the acommunications performance requirement, a routing path performanceestimate, routing path performance history, the routing path quality ofservice information, the candidate routing paths, and the selectedrouting paths. In an example, the processing module assigns slices ofpillars 1-5 to routing path 1, pillars 6-10 to routing path 2, pillars11-13 to routing path 3 a, and pillars 14-16 to routing path 4 c when apillar width is 16, a threshold is 10, routing paths 1 and 2 are fasterthan routing paths 3 a and 4 c, and routing paths 3 a and 4 c are morereliable than routing paths 1 and 2. The processing module may assigndifferent sets of pillars on a data segment by data segment basis.

The method continues with step 212 of FIG. 16A where the processingmodule creates dispersal information. The method continues at step 254where the processing module combines the dispersal information and thedata to produce a data package. For example, the processing moduleappends the dispersal information to the data to produce the datapackage. The method continues at step 256 where the processing moduledispersed storage error encodes the data package utilizing an errorcoding dispersal storage function to produce a set of encoded dataslices. As such, each slice contains the dispersal information (e.g.,appended, interleaved, inserted, etc.). The method continues with step142 of FIG. 9 where the processing module sends the set of encoded dataslices via the routing paths.

FIG. 20B is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing data,which includes similar steps to FIG. 16B. The method begins with step258 where a processing module (e.g., of a relay unit) receives anencoded data slice. The method continues at step 260 where theprocessing module inspects the encoded data slice to produce dispersalinformation. Alternatively, the processing module inspects a pluralityof encoded data slices of to produce the dispersal information. Themethod continues with step 218 of FIG. 16B where the processing moduledetermines whether to alter a routing path. The method branches to step264 when the processing module determines to alter the routing path. Themethod continues to step 262 when the processing module determines notto alter the routing path. The method continues at step 262 where theprocessing module forwards the encoded data slices (e.g. including thedispersal information) via an original routing path when the processingmodule determines not to alter the routing path.

The method continues at step 264 where the processing module obtainsrouting path quality of service information and determines candidaterouting paths when the processing module determines to alter routingpaths. The method continues with step 222 of FIG. 16B where theprocessing module selects a routing path from the candidate routingpaths to produce an altered routing path. The method continues at step266 where the processing module modifies the dispersal information andinserts the modified dispersal information in a modified encoded dataslice. For example, the processing module modifies the dispersalinformation to include the altered path. The method continues at step268 where the processing module assigns the modified encoded data sliceto the altered routing path. The method continues at step 270 where theprocessing module sends the modified encoded data slice via theassociated altered routing path.

FIG. 21A is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing data.The method begins at step 272 where a first device (e.g., a processingmodule of a sending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) determinesan error coding distributed routing protocol. The error codingdistributed routing protocol includes at least one of identity of aninitial plurality of routing paths, a number of routing paths, a numberof sub-sets of a set of encoded data slices, a desired routingperformance for one or more of the sub-sets of the set of encoded dataslices, a request for multiple path transmission of the set of encodeddata slices, a capacity estimate of the initial plurality of routingpaths, a priority indicator for at least one of the sub-sets, a securityindicator for at least one of the sub-sets, and a performance indicatorfor at least one of the sub-sets.

The method continues at step 274 where the first device transmits a setof encoded data slices, identity of a second device, and the errorcoding distributed routing protocol to at least one of a network and anetwork node (e.g., of the network) wherein the set of encoded dataslices represents data that has been dispersed storage error encoded.The method continues at step 276 where at least one of the network andthe network node receive, from the first device, the set of encoded dataslices, the identity of the second device, and the error codingdistributed routing protocol. Alternatively, the at least one of thenetwork and the network node obtains the error coding distributedrouting protocol by one of utilizing an error coding distributed routingprotocol from a previous message, performing a lookup, and utilizing apredetermined error coding distributed routing protocol.

The method continues at step 278 where the network routes a plurality ofsub-sets of the set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality ofrouting paths towards the second device in accordance with the errorcoding distributed routing protocol. Alternatively, the network noderoutes the plurality of sub-sets of the set of encoded data slices viathe initial plurality of routing paths from the first device towards thesecond device in accordance with the error coding distributed routingprotocol when the network node is utilized.

The method continues at step 280 where at least one of the network andthe network node compares anticipated routing performance of the routingof the plurality of sub-sets with a desired routing performance (e.g.,the desired routing performance included as part of the error codingdistributed routing protocol). The comparing includes for a link of aplurality of links of the routing path, determining the anticipatedrouting performance of the link, comparing the anticipated routingperformance of the link with a corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance, and when the comparison of the anticipated routingperformance of the link with the corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance is unfavorable, indicating that the comparison ofthe anticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with the desired routing performance is unfavorable.

The method continues at step 282 where at least one of the network andthe network node determine whether the comparison of a routing path ofthe initial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable. For example, thecomparison is determined as unfavorable when an absolute value of adifference between the anticipated routing performance and the desiredrouting performance is greater than a performance threshold. The methodbranches to step 284 when one of the network and the network nodedetermine that the comparison of the routing path of the initialplurality of routing paths is favorable. The method continues to step283 when one of the network and the network node determine that thecomparison of the routing path of the initial plurality of routing pathsis unfavorable.

The method continues at step 283 where at least one of the network andthe network node alters the routing path to obtain a favorablecomparison. The altering the routing path includes dispersed storageerror encoding an encoded data slice of a corresponding sub-set of theplurality of sub-sets to produce a set of encoded data sub-slices,determining a plurality of sub-routing paths, and routing the set ofencoded data sub-slices to the second device via the plurality ofsub-routing paths. The altering the routing path further includes atleast one of selecting a lower latency routing path, selecting a higherdata rate routing path, selecting a routing path with higher capacity,selecting a routing path with a lower error rate, selecting a routingpath with a higher cost, selecting a higher latency routing path,selecting a lower data rate routing path, selecting a routing path witha higher error rate, selecting a routing path with a lower cost, andselecting a routing path with lower capacity.

The method continues at step 284 where the second device receives atleast some of the set of encoded data slices from the network. Themethod continues at step 286 where the second device decodes at least athreshold number (e.g., a decode threshold number) of encoded dataslices to reproduce the data when the at least a threshold number ofencoded data slices have been received.

FIG. 21B is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing data.The method begins at step 288 where a processing module (e.g. of a relayunit, of a network node) receives a sub-set of encoded data slices, anidentity of a second device, and an error coding distributed routingprotocol, wherein a set of encoded data slices represents data that hasbeen dispersed storage error encoded and includes the sub-set of encodeddata slices. The method continues at step 290 where the processingmodule determines anticipated routing performance of routing the sub-setof encoded data slices via a routing path to the second device inaccordance with the error coding distributed routing protocol. Themethod continues at step 292 where the processing module compares theanticipated routing performance with a desired routing performance. Thecomparing the anticipated routing performance includes for a link of aplurality of links of the routing path, determining anticipated routingperformance of the link, comparing the anticipated routing performanceof the link with a corresponding portion of the desired routingperformance, and when the comparison of the anticipated routingperformance of the link with the corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance is unfavorable, indicating that the comparison ofthe anticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with the desired routing performance is unfavorable.

The method continues at step 294 where the processing module determineswhether the comparison of the anticipated routing performance to thedesired routing performance is unfavorable. The method branches to step298 when the processing module determines that the comparison of theanticipated routing performance to the desired routing performance isunfavorable. The method continues to step 296 when the processing moduledetermines that the comparison of the anticipated routing performance tothe desired routing performance is favorable. The method continues atstep 296 where the processing module routes the sub-set of encoded dataslices via the routing path.

The method continues at step 298 where the processing module alters therouting path to obtain a favorable comparison to produce an alteredrouting path. The altering the routing path includes dispersed storageerror encoding an encoded data slice of the sub-set of encoded dataslices to produce a set of encoded data sub-slices, determining aplurality of sub-routing paths, and routing the set of encoded datasub-slices to the second device via the plurality of sub-routing paths.The altering the routing path may further include at least one ofselecting a lower latency routing path, selecting a higher data raterouting path, selecting a routing path with higher capacity, selecting arouting path with a lower error rate, selecting a routing path with ahigher cost, selecting a higher latency routing path, selecting a lowerdata rate routing path, selecting a routing path with a higher errorrate, selecting a routing path with a lower cost, and selecting arouting path with lower capacity. The method continues at step 300 wherethe processing module routes the sub-set of encoded data slices to thesecond device via the altered routing path.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating another example of re-routing data,which include similar steps to FIG. 20B. The method begins with step 258of FIG. 20B where a processing module (e.g., of a relay unit) receivesan encoded data slice. The method continues at step 302 where theprocessing module obtains a current routing path, wherein the currentrouting path is associated with a routing path of the encoded data sliceas it is routed to a receiving entity (e.g., a receiving dispersedstorage (DS) processing unit). The obtaining may be based on one or moreof the encoded data slice, dispersal information associated with theencoded data slice, embedded information with the current data slice, alist, a lookup, a previously received encoded data slice, and a message.The method continues at step 304 where the processing module determinespredicted current routing path performance. The determination may bebased on one or more of the current routing path, historical performanceinformation, a query, a list, a lookup, and a message.

The method continues at step 306 where the processing module determineswhether the predicted current routing path performance comparesfavorably to a performance threshold. The determination may be based onone or more of obtaining the performance threshold from a list,obtaining the performance threshold from a message, determining theperformance threshold based on historical performance information (e.g.,a running average), and comparing the predicted current routing pathperformance to the performance threshold. For example, the processingmodule determines that the predicted current routing path performancecompares favorably to a performance threshold when the predicted currentrouting path performance is superior to the performance threshold. Themethod branches to step 264 FIG. 20B when the processing moduledetermines that the predicted current routing path performance does notcompare favorably to the performance threshold. The method continues tostep 262 of FIG. 20B when the processing module determines that thepredicted current routing path performance compares favorably to theperformance threshold. The method continues with step 262 of FIG. 20Bwhere the processing module forwards the encoded data slice via thecurrent routing path.

The method continues with step 264 FIG. 20B where the processing moduleobtains routing path quality of service information and identifiescandidate routing paths when the processing module determines that thepredicted current routing path performance does not compare favorably tothe performance threshold. The processing module considers currentlyavailable paths from the perspective of the processing module (e.g., therelay unit). The method continues at step 308 where the processingmodule selects a candidate routing path to produce a new routing path tooptimize performance of sending the encoded data slice to the receivingentity. The processing module may choose a different routing path toovercome a reliability issue between the processing module and thereceiving entity. The selection to produce the new routing path may bebased on one or more of optimizing quality of service performance, asize of the encoded data slice, the candidate routing paths, andestimated performance of each of the candidate routing paths. The methodcontinues at step 300 and where the processing module sends the encodeddata slice via the new routing path. The sending may include sending thenew routing path to one or more relay units associated with the newrouting path.

FIG. 23A is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices. The method begins at step 312 where a processing module (e.g. asending dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) processes data inaccordance with a processing function to produce a fundamental componentdata and a enhancement component data. The data may include any type ofanalog or digital representation of data content, media content, datastreams, video, audio, speech, word processing files, financial records,software, etc. The processing function includes one or more of a datacomponent priority segregation function, a spectral analysis function(e.g., a first band of spectrum corresponding to the fundamentalcomponent data and a second band of spectrum corresponding to theenhancement component data), and a data filter function (e.g.,separating video frames, standard definition video as the fundamentalcomponent data, high-definition video as the enhancement component data,a graphic overlay as the enhancement component data, and audio stream asthe enhancement component data).

For example, the processing module processes a word processingapplication produced document file utilizing a document file datacomponent priority segregation function to produce text as thefundamental component data and one or more of features, parameters, andpreferences of the document file as the enhancement component data. Asanother example, the processing module processes a word processingapplication software download file utilizing a software download filedata component priority segregation function to produce core software asthe fundamental component data and one or more of features, languagesettings, font information, and preferences of the software downloadfile as the enhancement component data. As yet another example, theenhancement component data includes a first level of enhancementcomponent data and a second level of enhancement component data. As afurther example, the processing module processes the data in accordancewith a video processing function to produce the fundamental componentdata and the enhancement component data when the data includes videodata (e.g., a video stream, a video file, a multimedia stream, amultimedia file).

The method continues at step 314 where the processing module dispersedstorage error encodes the fundamental component data of data inaccordance with dispersed storage error coding parameters to produce aplurality of sets of encoded data slices, wherein the data includes thefundamental component data and the enhancement component data. Theprocessing module may determine the dispersed storage error codingparameters based on at least one of metadata (e.g., addressinginformation, data type information, data size information, etc.)associated with the data and metadata associated with the fundamentalcomponent data. For example, the processing module determines thedispersed storage error coding parameters to include a pillar width of32 and a decode threshold of 10 to provide improved reliability whenmetadata associated with the data indicates that the data includes avideo surveillance video stream.

In an example of dispersed storage error encoding, the processing moduledispersed storage error encodes a first fundamental component data inaccordance with first dispersed storage error coding parameters toproduce a first plurality of sets of encoded data slices and dispersedstorage error encodes a second fundamental component data in accordancewith second dispersed storage error coding parameters to produce asecond plurality of sets of encoded data slices when the fundamentalcomponent data includes the first level of fundamental component dataand the second level of fundamental component data, the dispersedstorage error coding parameters includes the first dispersed storageerror coding parameters and the second dispersed storage error codingparameters, and the plurality of sets of encoded data slices includesthe first plurality of sets of encoded data slices and the secondplurality of sets of encoded data slices.

The method continues at step 316 where the processing module transmits aset of the plurality of sets of encoded data slices to a receivingentity (e.g., to a receiving DS processing unit via a network). Themethod continues at step 318 where the processing module transmits acorresponding portion of the enhancement component data substantiallyconcurrently with the transmitting of the set of the plurality of setsof encoded data slices. For example, the processing module transmits thecorresponding portion of the enhancement component data such that thecorresponding portion of the enhancement component data and thecorresponding set of the plurality of sets of encoded data slices arrivesubstantially concurrently at the receiving entity. As another example,the processing module transmits the corresponding portion of theenhancement component data such that the corresponding portion of theenhancement component data and the corresponding set of the plurality ofsets of encoded data slices are substantially transmitted concurrently.The transmitting the corresponding portion of the enhanced componentdata may include dispersed storage error encoding the enhancementcomponent data in accordance with a second dispersed storage errorcoding parameters to produce a second plurality of sets of encoded dataslices, and transmitting, as the corresponding portion of theenhancement component data, a set of the second set of encoded dataslices.

FIG. 23B is a flowchart illustrating another example of receiving data.The method begins at step 320 where a processing module (e.g., areceiving dispersed storage (DS) processing unit) receives sets ofencoded data slices, wherein fundamental component data of data wasencoded in accordance with dispersed storage error coding parameters toproduce the sets of encoded data slices, wherein the data includes thefundamental component data and enhancement component data. The methodcontinues at step 322 where the processing module receives correspondingportions of the enhancement component data substantially concurrentlywith the receiving of the sets of encoded data slices. The receiving thecorresponding portions of the enhancement component data may includereceiving a second plurality of sets of encoded data slices anddispersed storage error decoding the enhancement component data inaccordance with dispersed storage error coding parameters to reproducethe enhancement component data.

The method continues at step 324 where the processing module dispersedstorage error decodes the sets of encoded data slices to reproduce thefundamental component data. For example, the processing module dispersedstorage error decodes a first plurality of sets of encoded data slicesin accordance with first dispersed storage error coding parameters toreproduce a first level of fundamental component data and the processingmodule dispersed storage error decodes a second plurality of sets ofencoded data slices in accordance with second dispersed storage errorcoding parameters to reproduce a second level of fundamental componentdata when the fundamental component data includes first level offundamental component data and second level of fundamental componentdata and the sets of encoded data slices includes the first plurality ofsets of encoded data slices and the second plurality of sets of encodeddata slices.

The method continues at step 326 where the processing module processesthe fundamental component data and the enhancement component data inaccordance with a processing function to reproduce the data. Forexample, the processing module processes the fundamental component dataand the enhancement component data in accordance with a video processingfunction to reproduce video data when the data includes video data.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating another example of sending data asslices, that includes similar steps to FIGS. 7 and 9. The method beginswith step 110 from FIG. 7 where a processing module (e.g., of a sendingdispersed storage (DS) processing unit) obtains data for transmission.The method continues with steps 136-138 of FIG. 9 where the processingmodule obtains routing path quality of service information, determinescandidate routing paths, and selects routing paths from the candidaterouting paths. The method continues at step 328 where the processingmodule partitions the data to produce a first data portion and a seconddata portion. The processing module may partition the data into anynumber of data portions. The portions may include one or more ofaddressing information, header information, base video frameinformation, difference video frame information, digital media content,parity information, validation information, a data type indicator, etc.The partitioning may be based on one or more of a data type indicator, adata analysis, a data size indicator, a priority indicator, a securityindicator, buffer bits, authentication indicator, performance indicator,a lookup, a message, and a predetermination.

For the example, the processing module partitions the data to produce afirst data portion that includes high priority information based on apriority indicator. For instance, the processing module partitions thedata to produce the first data portion that includes a video header,addressing information, parity information, and a plurality of basevideo frames information when the priority indicator indicates that highpriority video information is to be partitioned into the first dataportion. As another instance, the processing module partitions the datato produce the second data portion that includes a plurality ofdifference video frames information and a plurality of buffer bits whenthe priority indicator indicates that lower priority video informationis to be partitioned into the second data portion. In such instances, itmay be more important to communicate the first data portion than thesecond data portion.

The method continues at step 330 where the processing module determinesfirst and second error coding dispersal storage function parameter setsthat correspond to the first and second data portions. The determinationmay be based on one or more of the routing path quality of serviceinformation, the candidate routing paths, the selected routing paths,the first and second data portions, a communications requirement, a datatype indicator, a capacity estimate of the selected routing paths, apriority indicator, a security indicator, a performance indicator, anestimated routing path performance indicator, a lookup, and a message.For example, the processing module determines the first error codingdispersal storage function parameters to include a pillar width and athreshold to favor reliability for transmission of the first dataportion when the first data portion represents high priority videoinformation. For instance, the processing module selects a pillar widthof 15 and a threshold of 8 when the communications requirement of thefirst data portion includes a high-reliability requirement. As anotherexample, the processing module determines the second error codingdispersal storage function parameters to include a pillar width and athreshold to favor efficiency over reliability for transmission of thesecond data portion when the second data portion represents lowerpriority video information. For instance, the processing module selectsa pillar width of 10 and a threshold of 8 when the communicationsrequirement of the second data portion includes a high-efficiencyrequirement.

The method continues at step 332 where the processing module dispersedstorage error encodes the first data portion utilizing an error codingdispersal storage function in accordance with the first error codingdispersal storage function parameter set to produce a first set ofencoded data slices. The method continues at step 334 where theprocessing module dispersed storage error encodes the second dataportion utilizing the error coding dispersal storage function inaccordance with the second error coding dispersal storage functionparameter set to produce a second set of encoded data slices.

The method continues at step 336 where the processing module assigns thefirst and second encoded data slice sets to the selected routing paths.The assigning may be based on one or more of the first and secondencoded data slice sets, the routing path quality of serviceinformation, the candidate routing paths, the selected routing paths,routing requirements, historical routing path performance, estimatedrouting path performance, a message, a lookup, a predetermination, and acommand. For example, the processing module assigns the first set ofencoded data slices to routing paths associated with lower reliabilitywhen the first error coding dispersal storage function parameter set isassociated with high reliability. As another example, the processingmodule assigns the second set of encoded data slices to routing pathsassociated with higher reliability when the second error codingdispersal storage function parameter set is associated with highefficiency and low reliability. The method continues at step 338 wherethe processing module sends the first and second encoded data slice setsvia the routing paths.

As may be used herein, the terms “substantially” and “approximately”provides an industry-accepted tolerance for its corresponding termand/or relativity between items. Such an industry-accepted toleranceranges from less than one percent to fifty percent and corresponds to,but is not limited to, component values, integrated circuit processvariations, temperature variations, rise and fall times, and/or thermalnoise. Such relativity between items ranges from a difference of a fewpercent to magnitude differences. As may also be used herein, theterm(s) “operably coupled to”, “coupled to”, and/or “coupling” includesdirect coupling between items and/or indirect coupling between items viaan intervening item (e.g., an item includes, but is not limited to, acomponent, an element, a circuit, and/or a module) where, for indirectcoupling, the intervening item does not modify the information of asignal but may adjust its current level, voltage level, and/or powerlevel. As may further be used herein, inferred coupling (i.e., where oneelement is coupled to another element by inference) includes direct andindirect coupling between two items in the same manner as “coupled to”.As may even further be used herein, the term “operable to” or “operablycoupled to” indicates that an item includes one or more of powerconnections, input(s), output(s), etc., to perform, when activated, oneor more its corresponding functions and may further include inferredcoupling to one or more other items. As may still further be usedherein, the term “associated with”, includes direct and/or indirectcoupling of separate items and/or one item being embedded within anotheritem. As may be used herein, the term “compares favorably”, indicatesthat a comparison between two or more items, signals, etc., provides adesired relationship. For example, when the desired relationship is thatsignal 1 has a greater magnitude than signal 2, a favorable comparisonmay be achieved when the magnitude of signal 1 is greater than that ofsignal 2 or when the magnitude of signal 2 is less than that of signal1.

As may also be used herein, the terms “processing module”, “module”,“processing circuit”, and/or “processing unit” may be a singleprocessing device or a plurality of processing devices. Such aprocessing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digitalsignal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, fieldprogrammable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logiccircuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or any device thatmanipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on hard coding of thecircuitry and/or operational instructions. The processing module,module, processing circuit, and/or processing unit may have anassociated memory and/or an integrated memory element, which may be asingle memory device, a plurality of memory devices, and/or embeddedcircuitry of the processing module, module, processing circuit, and/orprocessing unit. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, randomaccess memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory,dynamic memory, flash memory, cache memory, and/or any device thatstores digital information. Note that if the processing module, module,processing circuit, and/or processing unit includes more than oneprocessing device, the processing devices may be centrally located(e.g., directly coupled together via a wired and/or wireless busstructure) or may be distributedly located (e.g., cloud computing viaindirect coupling via a local area network and/or a wide area network).Further note that if the processing module, module, processing circuit,and/or processing unit implements one or more of its functions via astate machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry, and/or logiccircuitry, the memory and/or memory element storing the correspondingoperational instructions may be embedded within, or external to, thecircuitry comprising the state machine, analog circuitry, digitalcircuitry, and/or logic circuitry. Still further note that, the memoryelement may store, and the processing module, module, processingcircuit, and/or processing unit executes, hard coded and/or operationalinstructions corresponding to at least some of the steps and/orfunctions illustrated in one or more of the Figures. Such a memorydevice or memory element can be included in an article of manufacture.

The present invention has been described above with the aid of methodsteps illustrating the performance of specified functions andrelationships thereof. The boundaries and sequence of these functionalbuilding blocks and method steps have been arbitrarily defined hereinfor convenience of description. Alternate boundaries and sequences canbe defined so long as the specified functions and relationships areappropriately performed. Any such alternate boundaries or sequences arethus within the scope and spirit of the claimed invention. Further, theboundaries of these functional building blocks have been arbitrarilydefined for convenience of description. Alternate boundaries could bedefined as long as the certain significant functions are appropriatelyperformed. Similarly, flow diagram blocks may also have been arbitrarilydefined herein to illustrate certain significant functionality. To theextent used, the flow diagram block boundaries and sequence could havebeen defined otherwise and still perform the certain significantfunctionality. Such alternate definitions of both functional buildingblocks and flow diagram blocks and sequences are thus within the scopeand spirit of the claimed invention. One of average skill in the artwill also recognize that the functional building blocks, and otherillustrative blocks, modules and components herein, can be implementedas illustrated or by discrete components, application specificintegrated circuits, processors executing appropriate software and thelike or any combination thereof.

The present invention may have also been described, at least in part, interms of one or more embodiments. An embodiment of the present inventionis used herein to illustrate the present invention, an aspect thereof, afeature thereof, a concept thereof, and/or an example thereof. Aphysical embodiment of an apparatus, an article of manufacture, amachine, and/or of a process that embodies the present invention mayinclude one or more of the aspects, features, concepts, examples, etc.described with reference to one or more of the embodiments discussedherein. Further, from figure to figure, the embodiments may incorporatethe same or similarly named functions, steps, modules, etc. that may usethe same or different reference numbers and, as such, the functions,steps, modules, etc. may be the same or similar functions, steps,modules, etc. or different ones.

While the transistors in the above described figure(s) is/are shown asfield effect transistors (FETs), as one of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate, the transistors may be implemented using any type oftransistor structure including, but not limited to, bipolar, metal oxidesemiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFET), N-well transistors,P-well transistors, enhancement mode, depletion mode, and zero voltagethreshold (VT) transistors.

Unless specifically stated to the contra, signals to, from, and/orbetween elements in a figure of any of the figures presented herein maybe analog or digital, continuous time or discrete time, and single-endedor differential. For instance, if a signal path is shown as asingle-ended path, it also represents a differential signal path.Similarly, if a signal path is shown as a differential path, it alsorepresents a single-ended signal path. While one or more particulararchitectures are described herein, other architectures can likewise beimplemented that use one or more data buses not expressly shown, directconnectivity between elements, and/or indirect coupling between otherelements as recognized by one of average skill in the art.

The term “module” is used in the description of the various embodimentsof the present invention. A module includes a functional block that isimplemented via hardware to perform one or module functions such as theprocessing of one or more input signals to produce one or more outputsignals. The hardware that implements the module may itself operate inconjunction software, and/or firmware. As used herein, a module maycontain one or more sub-modules that themselves are modules.

While particular combinations of various functions and features of thepresent invention have been expressly described herein, othercombinations of these features and functions are likewise possible. Thepresent invention is not limited by the particular examples disclosedherein and expressly incorporates these other combinations.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprises: determining, by a firstdevice, an error coding distributed routing protocol; transmitting, bythe first device, a set of encoded data slices, identity of a seconddevice, and the error coding distributed routing protocol to a network,wherein the set of encoded data slices represents data that has beendispersed storage error encoded; routing, by the network, a plurality ofsub-sets of the set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality ofrouting paths towards the second device in accordance with the errorcoding distributed routing protocol; comparing, by the network,anticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with a desired routing performance; when the comparison of arouting path of the initial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable,altering the routing path to obtain a favorable comparison; receiving,by the second device, at least some of the set of encoded data slicesfrom the network; and when at least a threshold number of encoded dataslices have been received, decoding, by the second device, the at leasta threshold number of encoded data slices to reproduce the data.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the error coding distributed routing protocolcomprises at least one of: identity of the initial plurality of routingpaths; a number of routing paths; a number of sub-sets of the set ofencoded data slices; the desired routing performance for one or more ofthe sub-sets of the set of encoded data slices; a request for multiplepath transmission of the set of encoded data slices; a capacity estimateof the initial plurality of routing paths; a priority indicator for atleast one of the sub-sets; a security indicator for at least one of thesub-sets; and a performance indicator for at least one of the sub-sets.3. The method of claim 1, wherein the comparing, by the network, theanticipated routing performance comprises: for a link of a plurality oflinks of the routing path, determining the anticipated routingperformance of the link; comparing the anticipated routing performanceof the link with a corresponding portion of the desired routingperformance; and when the comparison of the anticipated routingperformance of the link with the corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance is unfavorable, indicating that the comparison ofthe anticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with the desired routing performance is unfavorable.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the altering the routing path furthercomprises: dispersed storage error encoding an encoded data slice of acorresponding sub-set of the plurality of sub-sets to produce a set ofencoded data sub-slices; determining a plurality of sub-routing paths;and routing the set of encoded data sub-slices to the second device viathe plurality of sub-routing paths.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe altering the routing path further comprises at least one of:selecting a lower latency routing path; selecting a higher data raterouting path; selecting a routing path with higher capacity; selecting arouting path with a lower error rate; selecting a routing path with ahigher cost; selecting a higher latency routing path; selecting a lowerdata rate routing path; selecting a routing path with a higher errorrate; selecting a routing path with a lower cost; and selecting arouting path with lower capacity.
 6. A method comprises: receiving, froma first device, a set of encoded data slices, identity of a seconddevice, and an error coding distributed routing protocol, wherein theset of encoded data slices represents data that has been dispersedstorage error encoded; routing a plurality of sub-sets of the set ofencoded data slices via an initial plurality of routing paths from thefirst device towards the second device in accordance with the errorcoding distributed routing protocol; comparing anticipated routingperformance of the routing of the plurality of sub-sets with a desiredrouting performance; and when the comparison of a routing path of theinitial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable, altering the routingpath to obtain a favorable comparison.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe comparing the anticipated routing performance comprises: for a linkof a plurality of links of the routing path, determining the anticipatedrouting performance of the link; comparing the anticipated routingperformance of the link with a corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance; and when the comparison of the anticipated routingperformance of the link with the corresponding portion of the desiredrouting performance is unfavorable, indicating that the comparison ofthe anticipated routing performance of the routing of the plurality ofsub-sets with the desired routing performance is unfavorable.
 8. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the altering the routing path furthercomprises: dispersed storage error encoding an encoded data slice of acorresponding sub-set of the plurality of sub-sets to produce a set ofencoded data sub-slices; determining a plurality of sub-routing paths;and routing the set of encoded data sub-slices to the second device viathe plurality of sub-routing paths.
 9. The method of claim 6, whereinthe altering the routing path further comprises at least one of:selecting a lower latency routing path; selecting a higher data raterouting path; selecting a routing path with higher capacity; selecting arouting path with a lower error rate; selecting a routing path with ahigher cost; selecting a higher latency routing path; selecting a lowerdata rate routing path; selecting a routing path with a higher errorrate; selecting a routing path with a lower cost; and selecting arouting path with lower capacity.
 10. A method comprises: receiving asub-set of encoded data slices, identity of a second device, and anerror coding distributed routing protocol, wherein a set of encoded dataslices represents data that has been dispersed storage error encoded andincludes the sub-set of encoded data slices; determining anticipatedrouting performance of routing the sub-set of encoded data slices via arouting path to the second device in accordance with the error codingdistributed routing protocol; comparing the anticipated routingperformance with a desired routing performance; when the comparison ofthe anticipated routing performance to the desired routing performanceis unfavorable, altering the routing path to obtain a favorablecomparison to produce an altered routing path; and routing the sub-setof encoded data slices to the second device via the altered routingpath.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the comparing the anticipatedrouting performance comprises: for a link of a plurality of links of therouting path, determining anticipated routing performance of the link;comparing the anticipated routing performance of the link with acorresponding portion of the desired routing performance; and when thecomparison of the anticipated routing performance of the link with thecorresponding portion of the desired routing performance is unfavorable,indicating that the comparison of the anticipated routing performance ofthe routing of the plurality of sub-sets with the desired routingperformance is unfavorable.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein thealtering the routing path further comprises: dispersed storage errorencoding an encoded data slice of the sub-set of encoded data slices toproduce a set of encoded data sub-slices; determining a plurality ofsub-routing paths; and routing the set of encoded data sub-slices to thesecond device via the plurality of sub-routing paths.
 13. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the altering the routing path further comprises atleast one of: selecting a lower latency routing path; selecting a higherdata rate routing path; selecting a routing path with higher capacity;selecting a routing path with a lower error rate; selecting a routingpath with a higher cost; selecting a higher latency routing path;selecting a lower data rate routing path; selecting a routing path witha higher error rate; selecting a routing path with a lower cost; andselecting a routing path with lower capacity.
 14. A computer comprises:an interface; a memory; and a processing module operable to: receive,from a first device via the interface, a set of encoded data slices,identity of a second device, and an error coding distributed routingprotocol, wherein the set of encoded data slices represents data thathas been dispersed storage error encoded; route a plurality of sub-setsof the set of encoded data slices via an initial plurality of routingpaths from the first device towards the second device in accordance withthe error coding distributed routing protocol; compare anticipatedrouting performance of the routing of the plurality of sub-sets with adesired routing performance; and when the comparison of a routing pathof the initial plurality of routing paths is unfavorable, alter therouting path to obtain a favorable comparison.
 15. The computer of claim14, wherein the processing module functions to compare the anticipatedrouting performance by: for a link of a plurality of links of therouting path, determining the anticipated routing performance of thelink; comparing the anticipated routing performance of the link with acorresponding portion of the desired routing performance; and when thecomparison of the anticipated routing performance of the link with thecorresponding portion of the desired routing performance is unfavorable,indicating that the comparison of the anticipated routing performance ofthe routing of the plurality of sub-sets with the desired routingperformance is unfavorable.
 16. The computer of claim 14, wherein theprocessing module further functions to alter the routing path by:dispersed storage error encoding an encoded data slice of acorresponding sub-set of the plurality of sub-sets to produce a set ofencoded data sub-slices; determining a plurality of sub-routing paths;and routing the set of encoded data sub-slices to the second device viathe plurality of sub-routing paths.
 17. The computer of claim 14,wherein the processing module further functions to alter the routingpath by at least one of: selecting a lower latency routing path;selecting a higher data rate routing path; selecting a routing path withhigher capacity; selecting a routing path with a lower error rate;selecting a routing path with a higher cost; selecting a higher latencyrouting path; selecting a lower data rate routing path; selecting arouting path with a higher error rate; selecting a routing path with alower cost; and selecting a routing path with lower capacity.
 18. Acomputer comprises: an interface; a memory; and a processing moduleoperable to: receive, via the interface, a sub-set of encoded dataslices, identity of a second device, and an error coding distributedrouting protocol, wherein a set of encoded data slices represents datathat has been dispersed storage error encoded and includes the sub-setof encoded data slices; determine anticipated routing performance ofrouting the sub-set of encoded data slices via a routing path to thesecond device in accordance with the error coding distributed routingprotocol; compare the anticipated routing performance with a desiredrouting performance; when the comparison of the anticipated routingperformance to the desired routing performance is unfavorable, alter therouting path to obtain a favorable comparison to produce an alteredrouting path; and route the sub-set of encoded data slices to the seconddevice via the altered routing path.
 19. The computer of claim 18,wherein the processing module functions to compare the anticipatedrouting performance by: for a link of a plurality of links of therouting path, determining anticipated routing performance of the link;comparing the anticipated routing performance of the link with acorresponding portion of the desired routing performance; and when thecomparison of the anticipated routing performance of the link with thecorresponding portion of the desired routing performance is unfavorable,indicating that the comparison of the anticipated routing performance ofthe routing of the plurality of sub-sets with the desired routingperformance is unfavorable.
 20. The computer of claim 18, wherein theprocessing module further functions to alter the routing path by:dispersed storage error encoding an encoded data slice of the sub-set ofencoded data slices to produce a set of encoded data sub-slices;determining a plurality of sub-routing paths; and routing the set ofencoded data sub-slices to the second device via the plurality ofsub-routing paths.
 21. The computer of claim 18, wherein the processingmodule further functions to alter the routing path by at least one of:selecting a lower latency routing path; selecting a higher data raterouting path; selecting a routing path with higher capacity; selecting arouting path with a lower error rate; selecting a routing path with ahigher cost; selecting a higher latency routing path; selecting a lowerdata rate routing path; selecting a routing path with a higher errorrate; selecting a routing path with a lower cost; and selecting arouting path with lower capacity.